Rick Staples
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Rick Staples (Democratic Party) was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 15. He assumed office on November 8, 2016. He left office on November 3, 2020.
Staples (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent District 15. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 6, 2020.
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Staples was assigned to the following committees:
- Pensions and Insurance Committee
- Finance, Ways, and Means Committee
- State Government Committee
- Commerce Committee
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2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Tennessee committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Calendar and Rules |
| • Consumer and Human Resources |
| • Health |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2020
See also: Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15
Sam McKenzie defeated Troy Jones in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sam McKenzie (D) | 72.9 | 13,158 |
| Troy Jones (Independent) | 27.1 | 4,887 | ||
| Total votes: 18,045 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15
Sam McKenzie defeated Matthew Park and incumbent Rick Staples in the Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15 on August 6, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam McKenzie | 39.6 | 2,032 |
 | Matthew Park | 39.1 | 2,007 | |
 | Rick Staples | 21.3 | 1,095 | |
| Total votes: 5,134 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Ovi Kabir (D)
2018
See also: Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2018
General election
General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15
Incumbent Rick Staples won election in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rick Staples (D) | 100.0 | 12,227 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 6 | ||
| Total votes: 12,233 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15
Incumbent Rick Staples advanced from the Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 15 on August 2, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rick Staples | 100.0 | 3,275 |
| Total votes: 3,275 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Tennessee House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 4, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was April 7, 2016. Incumbent Joe Armstrong (D) was removed from the general election ballot after his conviction on August 8, 2016, of filing a false tax return. He was replaced on the ballot by Rick Staples.
Rick Staples defeated Pete Drew in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 15 general election.[1][2]
| Tennessee House of Representatives, District 15 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Rick Staples |
65.04% | 9,242 | |
| Independent | Pete Drew | 34.96% | 4,968 | |
| Total Votes | 14,210 | |||
| Source: Tennessee Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Joe Armstrong ran unopposed in the Tennessee House of Representatives District 15 Democratic primary.[3][4]
| Tennessee House of Representatives, District 15 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Joe Armstrong Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rick Staples did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Tennessee scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2020
In 2020, the Tennessee State Legislature was in session from January 14 to June 19.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on social issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Tennesseans for Student Success (Select year on the side pull-down menu.)
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to education.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Tennessee General Assembly was in session January 8 through May 2.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the 110th Tennessee General Assembly, second session, was in session January 9 to April 27.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 110th Tennessee General Assembly, first session, was in session January 10 to May 10.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 109th Tennessee General Assembly, second year, was in session from January 12 through April 22
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Noteworthy events
Resignation from leadership position amid misconduct investigation (2019)
In April 2019, Staples stepped down from his position as assistant minority leader after the House Ethics Subcommittee found he had violated the General Assembly's sexual harassment policy. He said he would comply with recommendations from the ethics subcommittee.[6]
Staples had been accused of grabbing and holding onto a woman's waist and making inappropriate comments about the woman's appearance.[7]
Staples said of the allegations, "If currently or in the past I've had any words or actions that have been misinterpreted, that is due an apology, and I submit that apology. It also deserves a humble 'I'm sorry,' and do yield that I'm sorry."[8]
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The New York Times, "Election 2016," accessed November 11, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "2016 general election results - Tennessee House of Representatives," accessed January 19, 2017
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Candidate Petitions Filed as of April 8, 2016 Noon Qualifying Deadline," accessed April 11, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "August 4, 2016 Unofficial Election Results," accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Bar Association, "Nashville Chamber Releases 2015 Legislative Scorecard," accessed November 10, 2015
- ↑ Tennessean, "Rep. Rick Staples stepping down from Democratic leadership role after violating harassment policy," April 11, 2019
- ↑ Tennessean, "Democratic Rep. Rick Staples faces allegations, investigation of sexual misconduct," April 3, 2019
- ↑ Tennessean, "Rep. Rick Staples: Sexual harassment accusations 'political character assassination,'" April 4, 2019
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Joe Armstrong (D) |
Tennessee House of Representatives District 15 2016-2020 |
Succeeded by Sam McKenzie (D) |
