Dennis Powers

American politician
Powers in 2023

Dennis Powers (born 1953) is an American politician.[1][2][self-published source] He serves as a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 36th District, encompassing Campbell County Union and part of Claiborne Counties.[1][2][self-published source]

Early life and education

He was born on September 14, 1953, in LaFollette, Tennessee.[1][2][self-published source] He graduated from LaFollette High School and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee.[1]

Career

He started his career at the Baird Supply Company as a salesman, followed by the Furtex Corporation as a machinist, and later at the LaFollette Hardware and Lumber Co., a construction company.[2][self-published source] He then worked as an electronic data processing technician for Union Carbide (a subsidiary of Dow Chemical) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, with a Security Q clearance.[2][self-published source] He also worked in the Energy Department Manager of the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency (ETHRA) for Campbell, Union and surrounding counties.[2][self-published source] He now works as an insurance agent.[2][self-published source]

He is former president of the Campbell County Young Republicans.[1] From 1992 to 1996, he was a Republican nominee for the 36th district of Tennessee.[2][self-published source] Since 2010, he has served seven terms for this district as a state representative.[1]

He is a member of the Tennessee Tea Party, The Heritage Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the National Right to Life, the National Rifle Association of America, the National Federation of Independent Business, the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Conference of State Legislators.[1]

He is a member of Friends of Cove Lake State Park, committee chair of the Boy Scouts of America, and serves on the Campbell County Board of Habitat for Humanity.[1] He volunteers at LaFollette Medical Center.[1] Other philanthropic endeavors include the Wounded Warrior Project, the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life.[1]

In 2023, Powers supported a resolution to expel three Democratic lawmakers from the legislature for violating decorum rules. Some Democrats characterized the expulsion as unnecessary and unprecedented.[3][4]

Personal life

He is married to Tracy (Adkins) Powers, and they have members of the First Baptist Church of Jacksboro since 1990.

Political stances

Stated on February 21, 2023, in a debate regarding HB 327 which would make the Tennessee Office of Faith-Based Initiatives funded by the state, that he believes that some decisions made by the Supreme Court including Brown vs. Board of Education were right while others like Dred Scott and Plessy vs Ferguson were wrong decisions.[citation needed]

In March 2023, Powers introduced a bill to expand the methods of execution in Tennessee to include electrocution and later added an amendment to also include firing squads, claiming that it would be beneficial for the families of victims to have closure and that firing squad was the preferred method by death row inmates. Democrats criticized the bill as supporting "cruel and unusual punishment" that increased the pain of execution and a "step backward".[5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tennessee House of Representatives
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Official website
  3. ^ Andone, Dakin; Young, Ryan; Simonson, Amy; Almasy, Steve. "Tennessee's Republican-led House expels 2 Democratic lawmakers over gun reform protest, fails in bid to oust a third". CNN. Archived from the original on 2023-04-06. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  4. ^ Chappell, Bill; Romo, Vanessa. "Tennessee House votes to expel 2 of 3 Democratic members over gun protest". npr.org. National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2023-04-06. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  5. ^ Breslin, Ryan; Gutierrez, Carmyn. "Lawmaker looks to add firing squad to execution bill". www.wsmv.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
  6. ^ "Tennessee lawmaker apologizes after suggesting 'hanging by tree' as method of execution". The Tennessean. Archived from the original on 2023-03-02. Retrieved 2023-03-13.
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113th General Assembly (2023–2025)
Speaker of the House
Cameron Sexton (R)
Speaker pro tempore
Pat Marsh (R)
Deputy Speaker
Curtis Johnson (R)
Majority Leader
William Lamberth (R)
Minority Leader
Karen Camper (D)
  1. ▌John Crawford (R)
  2. ▌Bud Hulsey (R)
  3. ▌Timothy Hill (R)
  4. ▌John Holsclaw Jr. (R)
  5. ▌David Hawk (R)
  6. ▌Tim Hicks (R)
  7. ▌Rebecca Alexander (R)
  8. ▌Jerome Moon (R)
  9. ▌Gary W. Hicks (R)
  10. ▌Rick Eldridge (R)
  11. ▌Jeremy Faison (R)
  12. ▌Dale Carr (R)
  13. ▌Robert Stevens (R)
  14. ▌Jason Zachary (R)
  15. ▌Sam McKenzie (D)
  16. ▌Michele Carringer (R)
  17. ▌Andrew Farmer (R)
  18. ▌Elaine Davis (R)
  19. ▌Dave Wright (R)
  20. ▌Bryan Richey (R)
  21. ▌Lowell Russell (R)
  22. ▌Dan Howell (R)
  23. ▌Mark Cochran (R)
  24. ▌Kevin Raper (R)
  25. ▌Cameron Sexton (R)
  26. ▌Greg Martin (R)
  27. ▌Patsy Hazlewood (R)
  28. ▌Yusuf Hakeem (D)
  29. ▌Greg Vital (R)
  30. ▌Esther Helton (R)
  31. ▌Ron Travis (R)
  32. ▌Monty Fritts (R)
  33. ▌John Ragan (R)
  34. ▌Tim Rudd (R)
  35. ▌William Slater (R)
  36. ▌Dennis Powers (R)
  37. ▌Charlie Baum (R)
  38. ▌Kelly Keisling (R)
  39. ▌Iris Rudder (R)
  40. ▌Michael Hale (R)
  41. ▌Ed Butler (R)
  42. ▌Ryan Williams (R)
  43. ▌Paul Sherrell (R)
  44. ▌William Lamberth (R)
  45. ▌Johnny Garrett (R)
  46. ▌Clark Boyd (R)
  47. ▌Rush Bricken (R)
  48. ▌Bryan Terry (R)
  49. ▌Mike Sparks (R)
  50. ▌Bo Mitchell (D)
  51. ▌Aftyn Behn (D)
  52. ▌Justin Jones (D)
  53. ▌Jason Powell (D)
  54. ▌Vincent B. Dixie (D)
  55. ▌John Ray Clemmons (D)
  56. ▌Bob Freeman (D)
  57. ▌Susan Lynn (R)
  58. ▌Harold Love Jr. (D)
  59. ▌Caleb Hemmer (D)
  60. ▌Darren Jernigan (D)
  61. ▌Gino Bulso (R)
  62. ▌Pat Marsh (R)
  63. ▌Jake McCalmon (R)
  64. ▌Scott Cepicky (R)
  65. ▌Sam Whitson (R)
  66. ▌Sabi Kumar (R)
  67. ▌Ronnie Glynn (D)
  68. ▌Curtis Johnson (R)
  69. ▌Jody Barrett (R)
  70. ▌Clay Doggett (R)
  71. ▌Kip Capley (R)
  72. ▌Kirk Haston (R)
  73. ▌Chris Todd (R)
  74. ▌Jay Reedy (R)
  75. ▌Jeff Burkhart (R)
  76. ▌Tandy Darby (R)
  77. ▌Rusty Grills (R)
  78. ▌Mary Littleton (R)
  79. ▌Brock Martin (R)
  80. ▌Johnny Shaw (D)
  81. ▌Debra Moody (R)
  82. ▌Chris Hurt (R)
  83. ▌Mark White (R)
  84. ▌Joe Towns (D)
  85. ▌Jesse Chism (D)
  86. ▌Justin Pearson (D)
  87. ▌Karen Camper (D)
  88. ▌Larry Miller (D)
  89. ▌Justin Lafferty (R)
  90. ▌Gloria Johnson (D)
  91. ▌Torrey Harris (D)
  92. ▌Todd Warner (R)
  93. ▌G. A. Hardaway (D)
  94. ▌Ron Gant (R)
  95. ▌Kevin Vaughan (R)
  96. ▌Dwayne Thompson (D)
  97. ▌John Gillespie (R)
  98. ▌Antonio Parkinson (D)
  99. ▌Tom Leatherwood (R)