Calfee links Casada, governor to National Guard promotion offer
It was a spring day in 2019 when Rep. Kent Calfee listened as former House Speaker Glen Casada discussed making state Rep. John Mark Windle a general in the National Guard, part of a last-ditch effort to garner enough votes to pass Gov. Bill Lee’s education savings account bill.
Calfee, a Kingston Republican who is stepping away from the Legislature this year, told the Tennessee Lookout Thursday he was standing on the balcony outside the House chamber that April day three years ago when Casada was trying to break a tie vote on the voucher bill.
“What I heard was Glen Casada told John Mark – John Mark and I have been friends since 1990 – and I heard Casada say, ‘I can’t promote you, but the governor can. I’ll call the governor,’” Calfee said.
Windle holds the rank of colonel in the National Guard, and a position as general would have been a plum job. Windle, though, did not change his “no” vote.
Read more: https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/03/18/stockard-on-the-stump-calfee-links-casada-governor-to-national-guard-promotion-offer/