D.A.: Election recommendation not politically motivated

Gibbons said he advised the Senate committee investigating irregularities in the Sept. 15 special election to not wait on the results of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation review of the election. That election gave Democrat Ophelia Ford a 13-vote victory for the Senate seat formerly held by her brother John Ford.

Gibbons, a Republican, contributed $100 to Ford’s opponent, Republican Terry Roland. He also will be the one to prosecute if the TBI investigation reveals criminal activity in the election.

“Based on public comments by some senators, it appeared they expected the TBI investigation would be concluded soon and that they thought they would have access to that information,” Gibbons said.

Roland contends more than 160 ballots were cast by voters who may been ineligible because of residency outside District 29, paperwork errors or prior criminal convictions.

State officials, meanwhile, had put the number of questionable votes at nine, including two ballots cast in the names of dead people. The Commercial Appeal newspaper, which first discovered the ballots attributed to the dead, has also reported that it uncovered a vote cast by a convicted felon.

Gibbons wrote a letter dated Dec. 28 to the Senate committee urging it to “proceed with making its recommendation based on information already available to it from the Shelby County Election Commission, the state coordinator of elections and other available sources.”

He said he discussed the situation with TBI Director Mark Gwyn “and we felt it important to let the committee know that, first, the TBI investigation was going to take a while and second, the investigative file was confidential and the committee should not be in a position of making its recommendation on that.”

Earlier this month, 16 Republican Senators and one Democrat voted to void the election, even though the Senate committee had not released it’s report, drawing complaints from Democrats. Republican plans for a final, binding vote have been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

Senate Democratic Caucus Chairman Jim Kyle said Friday that while “the letter wasn’t inappropriate, I think people believe today that he should have disclosed his political connection to Mr. Roland.”

Gibbons said he bought a $100 ticket to a Roland campaign fundraising reception before the election.

“I have been to a lot of political receptions,” he said. “I’ve been to receptions for John Ford before.”

Gibbons said his letter made no recommendation on how the Senate should respond.

“That’s none of my business,” he said. “They could vote to recommend that Ophelia Ford be seated permanently.”