Two Tennessee laws are already in effect. One gives the TBI discretion to investigate suspected elder financial exploitation. The other expands compensated unused leave protections from teachers to all local school district and public charter school employees. Not every new law is controversial.

New synthetic opioids do not move state by state. They move through supply networks. That is why one state may detect a compound while a nearby state does not. www.governing.com/management-a... #Forensics #Networks #LEO #FirstResponders

Early 2028 polling from Overton Insights: Full GOP field: JD Vance = 39% Marco Rubio = 32% Vance vs. Rubio: Rubio = 42% Vance = 36% Full Democratic field: Pete Buttigieg = 16% Gavin Newsom = 13% AOC = 12% AOC vs. Newsom: AOC = 43% Newsom = 35% Newsom vs. Vance: Newsom = 44% Vance = 39%

Good news with your coffee. This week’s **Tennessee Good Work of the Week** spotlight goes to Knox County’s **Criminal Justice Liaison initiative**.

Gas prices are not just numbers on a roadside sign. They are a daily reminder of whether people feel financially stable or squeezed. In the new Overton Insights national poll, about two-thirds of registered voters said recent gas price changes had at least a moderate effect on their

A poll should not tell citizens what to think. It should help them ask better questions. I’m starting a 13-part series on the new Overton Insights national poll, beginning with how to read polling without getting pulled into the spin. A poll is not a prediction. It is not an election result.

A pardon mattered. —— But Clark said what affected him most was seeing who showed up for him. www.thebanner.org/columns/2026... #Redemption #WeDoRecover #TheRedemptionProject #Recovery #Jesus

Bills get the headlines. The budget decides what actually gets funded. That is why I’m separating TN new laws from TN final budget. A law can say the state wants to do something. The budget tells us whether the state paid for it. TN final budget is about more than one big number.

New Poll: Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Erika Kirk all Unpopular Among Voters mailchi.mp/overtoninsig...

New Poll: Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Erika Kirk all Unpopular Among Voters mailchi.mp/overtoninsig... A quick note before the comments start: Discuss the numbers, the methodology, the interpretation and the public meaning of the poll. Do not attack people personally.

I asked several TN GOV candidates the same question about AI & infrastructure. What stood out wasn’t just the answers it was how differently people approach the problem. Some plan ahead. Some respond after the fact. Learn more: www.facebook.com/BrandonBurle...

I hope you will join me at 6pm EST as I talk with Jesse Crosson. We will talk about his path to redemption after he was sentenced to 32 years in prison, at the age of 18.

I started reviewing Tennessee county election data expecting to find a turnout story. Instead, I may have found several different civic realities happening at once. After analyzing data from more than 50 Tennessee counties representing more than 2 million registered voters, one thing became clear

How do you fairly compare candidates who have never held the same office? A governor’s race can include: • federal lawmakers • state lawmakers • local officials • candidates without legislative voting records at all So what counts more: A vote? A bill sponsorship? A campaign promise?

How do you compare candidates when they haven’t held the same office, voted on the same bills or governed under the same conditions? That is the question behind my upcoming Tennessee governor voter guide. This is not a scorecard. Not an endorsement. Not a partisan shortcut.

Tennessee passed a lot of laws this year, but they do not all start at the same time. Some became effective when the governor signed them. Some start July 1. Some do not fully take effect until 2027, 2028 or later. That matters because “passed” and “in effect” are not the same thing.

Tennessee Good Work is officially here. Season 5 of The Redemption Project is built around a simple idea: not every story about public life has to begin with conflict. Some stories begin with people helping. Listen to the full episode here: open.spotify.com/episode/3J3S...

Good news with your coffee. This week’s Tennessee Good Work of the Week spotlight goes to Rocky Top Veterans Foundation, a Maryville-based nonprofit serving veterans across eight East Tennessee counties.

by Brandon Burley and The Redemption Project Fast certainty is powerful. It feels clear. It feels confident. It feels easy to follow. Slow explanation feels different. It takes time. It requires patience. It often includes nuance people don’t always want to sit with.

Most voters are not fooled because they are uninformed. They are fooled because the information already feels true.

Civil Miller-Watkins, a U.S. Senate candidate from rural West Tennessee, joins The Redemption Project to discuss education, health care, school safety, rural representation, voter participation and the kitchen-table issues shaping Tennessee families. Her central message: “Your vote is your voice.”

Can someone be facing criminal charges and still be living redemption? Jessica Martinez’s story is not clean or finished. That is what makes it important. Addiction. Charges. Children. Faith. Sobriety. Consequences still unfolding.

Last night, The Redemption Project hosted a live Tennessee gubernatorial roundtable. The full episode is now available. This was not built as a debate, a shouting match or a campaign commercial. The purpose was to give

Take the new Tennessee gubernatorial poll here: You can take it here: forms.gle/h3Zexs6pT2DM... #Tennessee #Government #Civics #Elections #Congress #Journalism

Tonight, while I was live hosting The Redemption Project’s Tennessee gubernatorial roundtable, I received the email that TRP won the 2025 Society of Professional Journalists East Tennessee Golden Press Card Award for Best Podcast.

The Tennessee governor roundtable is happening now, and I want to hear from voters while the conversation is fresh. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYMl... I just opened a new voter survey tied to the governor’s race.

WE ARE LIVE! Watch the gubernatorial roundtable. Restream: studio.restream.io/edu-qtdu-akw YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYMl... Facebook: www.facebook.com/share/1H4Y6B... Substack: substack.com/@theredempti... #Tennessee #Government #Civics #Elections #Congress #Journalism

I asked TN GOV Candidates the same question on the 2A. It was interesting how differently they define the role of government. Some draw hard constitutional lines. Others focus on outcomes and consequences. That gap matters more than people realize. www.facebook.com/share/p/1HVn... #Tennessee

Voters are not asking for perfection. They are asking for comparison. Same opportunity to evaluate candidates clearly. Modern campaigns increasingly prefer message control over direct comparison. I wrote about why that matters democratically. Full article: open.substack.com/pub/theredem...

Can a Tennessee candidate run without living in the district? For Congress, it is different. A U.S. House candidate must live in Tennessee when elected, but the Constitution does not require them to live in the specific congressional district. Read more: open.substack.com/pub/theredem... #TN

I asked several TN GOV candidates the same question about AI & infrastructure. What stood out wasn’t just the answers it was how differently people approach the problem. Some plan ahead. Some respond after the fact. Learn more: www.facebook.com/BrandonBurle...

Thank you to Len Assante and The Loyal Opposition for having me on to talk about civic journalism, the Tennessee governor’s race, and why comparative coverage matters.

Two Tennessee counties posted nearly identical turnout percentages in this year’s May primary elections. But the elections themselves operated very differently. Bedford County reported turnout around 13%.
Williamson County reported turnout around 14%.

Low turnout does not always equal voter apathy. Sometimes it reflects something deeper:
few competitive races. As I review election data from counties across Tennessee, one trend is becoming clear: many local races were uncontested, had no qualified candidate, or existed mostly as write-in races.

Should SNAP benefits include sugary foods and drinks? www.azcentral.com/story/opinio...

A caucus is not just another word for a primary. That matters in Tennessee because some counties, including Maury and Giles, have used caucuses instead of regular primaries for local races. I broke down the difference in plain English here: www.instagram.com/p/DYZmwxQDub...

Interesting wrinkle while collecting election data from all 95 Tennessee counties: Some counties immediately emailed the data. Knox County required a formal public records request first.

Shoutout to WQKR 101.7FM / 1270AM radio and Leonard Assante for having me this week on The Loyal Opposition this week! I’ll be joining the show at 5 PM Central If you’re outside the WQKR listening area, you can listen live here: www.wqkr.com

Roundtable is set!

Quick update after nearly 2,000 responses in the Tennessee governor poll I’ve been running alongside candidate interviews. I’ve removed duplicate IP submissions to keep the data as clean as possible. Still, this isn’t a scientific poll—it’s a snapshot of engaged voters. What stands out

Should there be a public debate on immigration policy? tennesseelookout.com/2026/02/11/t...

As roundtable planning continues, I put together an anonymous Tennessee governor poll to gather reader input before candidates sit down under the same format. County, party, generation, issue priorities, candidate preference, support strength and more.

So many people think a pardon is the end of the criminal conviction. It is really just the beginning of a longer process to get your life back. www.knoxtntoday.com/new-purpose-...

A Tennessee governor roundtable is now in motion. I reached out to multiple gubernatorial campaigns about a shared format: same questions, equal time, no cross-talk, focused on policy and governing priorities.

Same question. Very different answers. I asked Tennessee governor candidates what state government should fix first. The first divide appeared immediately:

I’m starting a new series within The Redemption Project where I explain or sometimes bring in someone who works directly in that field. #Government, #crime, #courts, #schools, #public #policy… anything people argue about but rarely slow down enough to unpack. What should I explain first?

Nevada has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 5.2%. Yet men and women leaving prison or county jail with criminal records continue to have limited access to work long after their release. lasvegassun.com/news/2026/ap... @lasvegassun.bsky.social

A new synthetic opioid called cychlorphine is showing up in multiple countries, but the bigger issue is surveillance. Many overdose systems only reflect what labs are already built to detect. New chemistry can move faster than reporting. #Forensics #PublicHealth

I am honored to be nominated for Tennessee Educator of the Month. If you have a few seconds, I would appreciate your vote. t.co/GowMYR40rQ #TN #Educator

What are your thoughts on decriminalizing prostitution? While this bill ultimately failed, I would be interested to everyones thoughts on it. www.gjsentinel.com/opinion/colu...