Well, as predicted, then.

If Senator Herron does not make a positive statement on supporting gun control legislation or state that he will change his attitude on the legal right of women and girls to decide their own medical decisions, I will not be able to accept him as a Leader. Period.

From what I have read about his voting record and previous positions on social and economic issues, I guess he is an example of what someone on this blog considers a "conservative Democrat". To me that is an oxymoron.

Thanks to Kathy Chambers for the breakdown:

UPDATE: Thanks to Brandon Puttbrese for the corrections:
Votes
Ex-Oficio:
Sen. Lowe Finney, Senate Caucus: Garrison
Rep. Mike Turner, House Caucus: Garrison
Jimmie Sue Staton, Tennessee Federation of Dem Women: Herron
Sean Braisted, Young Dems: Garrison
Jennifer Baldwin, Tennessee Federation of College Dems: Garrison
Todd Sharp, Tennessee County Chairs: Garrison

Executive Committee members by Senate District (one man, one woman):
1: Marjorie Ramsey, Herron
Mike Hampton, Herron
2: Linda Dotson, Herron
Bruce Dotson, GARRISON
3: Pamela Harris, ABSENT
Michael Lane, HERRON
4: Dr. Joyce Hopson, Garrison
Bill Howerton, Herron
5: Dixie Damm, Garrison
Hal Dawson, Garrison
6: Sylvia Woods, Garrison
Harold Woods, Garrison
7: Gayle Alley, PASS
Bill Owen, Herron
8: Barbara Wagner, Garrison
Dan Lawson, Herron
9: Sally Love, Herron
Jim Bilbo: Herron
10: Chantelle Roberson,
Garrison
Chris Anderson: Absent
11: Sandy Lusk, Herron
Terry Lee, Garrison
12: Martha Wiley, Herron
Brad Parrish, Herron
13: Brenda Ables, Herron
Guy Derryberry, Garrison
14: Betty Fraley, Herron
Paul Davis, Herron
15: Dr. Geeta McMillian,
Herron
Dennis Gregg, Herron
16: Kristen Cullen, RESIGNED,
not replaced
Mark Farrar, Garrison
17: Mary Patterson, Garrison
David Harper, PASS
18: Jeanette Jackson, Herron
Bill Bassett, Herron
19: Inez Crutchfield, HERRON
Jerry Maynard, Garrison
20: Angelia Cannon, Herron
David Briley, Garrison
21: Doris Medlin, Garrison
Will Cheek, Herron
22: Kimberlee Smith, Herron
Keith Jackson, Garrison
23: Elisa Parker, Herron
Jonathan Faill, Herron
24: Paige Burcham, Herron
Toney Campbell, Herron
25: Martha Shepard, Herron
Richard Dunavant, Herron
26: Diane Davis, Absent
Mike Kiddy, Herron
27: Patsy Johnson, Garrison
Don Farmer, Garrison
28: Gale Carson Jones,
Garrison
J.M. Bailey, Garrison
29: Joyce Adams, Garrison
Henry Hooper, Herron
30: Maura Sullivan, Herron
Kevin Gallagher, Herron
31: Adrienne Pakis-Gillion,
Herron
Dwayne Thompson, Herron
32: Gladys Crain, Herron
Bobby Sproles, Herron
33: Hazel Moore, Herron
Sidney Chism, Herron

My read is that this was the Anybody but the one who has the Chip Forrester stink on them election. Now the Executive Committee is tasked with putting together a Progressive platform to position TCDEMS as an alternative to Republicans. That shouldn't be that hard if there's some courage out there.

An old friend of mine who is a former exec comm member is excited that Herron is on board. He says that Herron will listen to the real Democrats and will bring every one together. I am far from convinced.

Don, I gotta say I strongly agree with both Randy's points.

Democrat = Progressive, period.

And Madeline has already taken a bit of flak for having aligned with our Nashville and Memphis mayors to publicly support Garrison.

I suspect that her willingness to do so speaks to the strength of her conviction that Herron was a bad idea.

So much opportunity for the Democrats, such a misuse of time and energy focusing on EACH OTHER and your own party.

So why is it you don't hang with your own peeps, AO?

It's nice to know I am not alone in my feelings. Once again, liberals are told to shut up and do as we're told. How is it that the Caucuses were ignored, as wll as most of the activists in the state.

As I said, I totally get that people in East and West wanted the 440 Loop crowd out, I understand that. But ROY?? Why should anyone under the age of 60 get involved now? This told people of color, LGBT folks, people who aren't centrist but LIBERAL to go piss up a rope.

They are going to have to reach out to US if they want our help.

Herron will rebuild the Democratic Party in Tennessee if he can over come the "litmus test" element of the party that has just about killed the party in Tennessee.

I hope those who were pushed out through formal processes and through other means will be reconsidered by this new leadership. I am thrilled Wade Munday will be involved as well. The viciousness of chip and his cronies was disgusting and reprehensible.

"We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1776

Redeye Post: I woke up and can't get back to sleep, btw.

The litmus test for me is the degree to which the State Party, under the chair's direction, supports our Democratic candidates in the general elections.

Evelyn, Anthony, Jerome, and myself were supported locally more or less, but barely so (and that's a politely generous description) by the Nashville Top Dogs. I include this area's State Executive Committee members amongst the former, with a few exceptions.

That was my impression, though I can only speak for myself.

Democratic Party Officers should be judged based on this standard first and foremost: supporting Democrats who are plucky enough (or naive enough) to run for elected office in ET.

For me, the bigger problem was with the 'connected' Democrats around here. Most of them avoided me like I was a leper. I guess being seen supporting a challenger to the House of Duncan was not in their best interests...much safer to back Stewart or Headrick even though they weren't running in Knox County.

Then again, the MetroPulse's editorial staff did not consider me a true "liberal voice", so what do I know...

Inez Vrutchfield voted for Herron; she did not pass. Only two members passed.

The "Progressives" in this state are going have to get over the opinion if a person is not as "liberal" as them, then they are not a Democrat. There are conservative Democrats in this state. In fact, if election results are any indication, more than liberal Democrats. The two groups are going to have to learn to work together if the party is going to survive. I have said many times and I will repeat, the party is going to have to become again an all inclusive party without demanding a litmus test.

Is not helpful, just divisive.
I had no idea the extent of the right-wing 'values' that Roy Herron hid...until I got his voting record LAST WEEK. He always gave great speeches...to impress us 'liberals', progressives, centrists, moderates, etc. But he was really voting like a right-wing GOP/TEA. Why should WE work to get this NRA State Board member to lighten up and change all his opinions so he can get us to 'work with him'? This is just a pipe dream.
The fact is that there are hundreds here who are friggin' amazed to learn that they are not the ONLY Democrats in East Tennessee. This is the response I get from folks I have talked to since 2008 when they rarely heard of any support for our President, then or in the last 4 years.
Roy Herron will have to work 24/7 to convince the majority of real Democrats that he will work to elect our DEM candidates across this State.
I looked at the list of how the EC members voted...most who chose Garrison were young...activists, young professionals and college students who wanted to be proud of our Party and work for change.
And Troy is correct. There was almost NO TNDP support for ANY local, State or US DEM candidates in the last 3 state-wide elections...not money, endorsements, fundraisers, NOTHING. Our great, qualified candidates like Dr. Headrick, Randy Walker, and Troy...were ignored. Meanwhile, the TEAs were given unlimited money, local GOP millionaires held fundraisers for slugs like DesJarlais and Campfield and money won.
I am going to wait and see. We need strong Democrats in the TNDP who will stand up and fight and call out losers like Stacey and Joe Carr...and criticize slugs like Curry Todd the drunk with a gun or wife abuser (with a gun) David Hawk. We must hold them to at least a minimum standard of behavior. We need to demand that these seat fillers be censured, fined, and put on probation.
We Democrats must make it plain AT THE STATE LEVEL that we do not accept the TEAs' definition of 'moral values'. Otherwise, our Party will just be another version of the GOP/TEA Party that runs this State.

Knoxrebel's comments are well-considered and good common sense. Like him, I am as liberal as I suppose anyone could possibly be, but I am intereestd in winning elections for Democrats. The opinions of the chair just don't matter; the actions of the chair in helping elect Democratic nominees do matter. I have no concerns about Herron's ability or willingness to do that.

The faction who say they won't help Herron no matter what were the very first to bitch and complain that certain Democrats refused to help Chip. Forrester himself said at the meeting Saturday that he erred in not having their support and could have doubled his fundraising if he had. What a binch of hypocrites.

Sylvia Woods and the East Nashville activists and the arrogant Sean Braisted, all of whom are acting like 10 year olds -- and whose candidate led us into unparalleled disaster for the past four years -- are no better than the 100-percent-or-nothing teabaggers who say that any Republican who doesn't accpet all of their positions all of the time are "RINOs."

I am for absolute abortion rights, gay marriage and protected class status for sexual orientation, banning assault weapons, pro-affirmative action, single payer health insurance, a fast path to citizenship for immigrants, getting th hell out of Afghanistan and shutting down a big portion of our overseas bases, the strongest possible union protections, investment in public schools. And I also would bust my ass to get the conservative Lincoln Davis to replace Scott Desjarlais. Show some sense, people.

The enemy is the racist, homophobic, screw-the-poor, corporate-boot-licking GOP. Not Democrats who haven't towed your specific line 100 percent of the time. There are not enough of us to be fighting, and Herron needs and deserves the support of every Democrat in this state.

The coalition of EC members that voted for Herron was a cross section of people from inner city Memphis to rural East Tennessee and they represented a true cross-section of Tennessee.

Harold and Sylvia Woods can't control everything, Mary, and this vote is a reflection of EC members, including recently elected and extremely liberal people who strongly worked for and were delegates for Obama, but who found themselves as elected committee members effectively blocked, stalled, shut down, and shut out by Chip Forrester, his unelected minions, and cronies.

I wish that the TNDP had a stronger party that may have yielded other candidates for party chair. But, my interactions with Herron have always been respectful and he has my support as TNDP Chair. I cannot say that of Chip or Chip's chosen ones. I am relieved Garrison lost and hopeful that Chip and his people and his brand of divisive, malicious, and disgusting inner-party politics and personal attacks is done and gone from the TNDP.

I am hopeful that Roy Herron will use some of his home grown politics and home grown political skills to stop the bleeding of voters and work on stabilizing this party, which means including everyone, not just recent Obama supporters!

I continue to be perplexed by your persistence and insistence in including Randy Walker in your realm of liberal Democrat and why you believe that Randy Walker received no support. Randy had a breathtaking fundraising operation. Randy Walker fits no such label of unsupported liberal Democrat. Randy purposely separated himself from the party to give himself the opportunity to define himself and his campaign to the voters. Randy received better access to votebuilder and other campaign tools than most of his counterparts did. And, the last TNDP event and grassroots training I went to included a panel of legislators that espoused tremendous support for Randy. It is highly unusual for such rhetoric for a losing state senate candidate to be heard more than a year after their race. There were issues with Randy's race that were outside the scope of the TNDP. But, to imply that Randy was without "support," which in politics means lacking key supporters and financing, is completely preposterous!

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not express my enthusiasm for Wade Munday. Wade Munday is a great person, skilled political staffer, knowledgeable person of public policy, intimately familiar with Tennesseans and Tennessee politics, a great communicator, and, most importantly, a generally kind person. Wade Munday is a fantastic asset to this party and I wish him congratulations in his new role with the TNDP!

Much of this and other discussions center upon which candidate is more liberal or conservative and who better supports certain issues. The TNDP Chair's job is not to promote ideology but to advance the Democratic Party.

I think many of the members felt that someone who had been in public office, from a rural TN county, and that had a more personal (and yes backslapping style) could do better than a low key political operative from Illinois.

While technology has changed a lot of the political game, it's still one that requires the personal touch. It's also one where you deal with lots of big egos. I for one think that the humble, country boy approach of Herron will be more effective than brash style that Chip has displayed over the past 4 years.

My name is Sandy Lusk or Sandy on Signal in the blogoshphere. I'm on the Executive Committee for District 11 and just recently elected to be East Tennessee regional Vice Chairwoman for the TNDP. Mike Hampton is my counter part, he lives up in Erwin, Tennessee and I live down in the Chattanooga area - Signal Mountain; hence, my name Sandy on Signal.

I am a peace loving, pro-choice, special needs mom and yellow dog Democrat. I voted for Roy Herron. It was an easy decision for me because we have got to win elections all over Tennessee not just in the blue pockets. Some of the comments suggested we concentrate on only urban areas and neglect the rural. Do you all remember John Kerry's disastrous 2004 run? They only cared about the battleground states and blue areas, when the election was over, we had the whole country except for the two coasts painted red. Howard Dean appealed to me because of the 50 state strategy, well, how about we try a 95 county strategy in Tennessee?

Democrats have to start winning elections in the legislature. There is no one to stop the crazy bills we are seeing come forward from the GOP. Just last week, Rep. Campfield put forth a bill that if needy children receiving state assistance don't make acceptable grades, they would lose their assistance. Many poor children have undiagnosed learning disabilities, many have problems in home life or foster care, is this how we want to treat them? Who will stop this? It won't be Republicans to look after the "least among us". These are not progressive or liberal issues that are threatened, these are issues about basic humanity and decency.

If we don't start working all the areas and relating to all, most Tennesseans will suffer. There will be no one for the poor, middle class, labor, teachers, children, public schools, scientists, environmentalists, gays, muslims and women. We face more than just single issues right now. Our beautiful environment, clean air and water are all being destroyed by the Republicans and their help for the polluters. The only way we can fight them is to win elections and this needs to be across the state. Roy Herron knows how to win elections and he knows how to resonate with the rural areas in Tennessee. Let's help him out and build a better Democratic Party in Tennessee.

how about we try a 95 county strategy in Tennessee?

Agree with that.