Rick Eldridge

American politician (born 1957)

Rick Eldridge

Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
from the 10th district

Incumbent

Assumed office
January 8, 2019[1]
Preceded by| Tilman Goins
Personal details
Born|  (1957-07-12) July 12, 1957 (age 68)[2]
Nationality| American
Political party| Republican
Residence| Morristown, Tennessee[3]

Rick Eldridge (born July 12, 1957) is an American politician. He is a Republican representing Tennessee's 10th House District, which solely encompasses the Western portion of Hamblen County and Grainger County, in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

## Political career

[edit]

Eldridge served as a Hamblen County commissioner for eight years, including two terms as chairman.[4]

In 2018, Eldridge ran for election to the District 10 seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, which was being vacated by Tilman Goins.[5] He defeated Tommy Pedigo in the Republican primary, and Democrat Barbara Simmons in the general election.[1]

In 2020, Eldridge ran unopposed in both the Republican primary and general election, being re-elected on November 3, 2020 with 17,133 votes.[1]

In August 2021, Eldridge joined all the state house Republicans in signing a letter to call for a special session to take action against schools requiring masks.[6] Governor Bill Lee issued an executive order allowing parents to opt students out of school mask mandates instead of calling the special session.[7] In October 2021, Eldridge voted in favor of a bill allowing partisan elections for school boards, which have traditionally been nonpartisan in Tennessee.[8] In December 2021, Eldridge voiced his opposition to the state's new redistricting plan that would split Hamblen County in half with District 10 in the west and District 11 in the east. He stated he would vote no on the plan.[9]

In 2023, Eldridge supported a resolution to expel Democratic lawmakers from the legislature for violating decorum rules. The expulsion was widely characterized as unprecedented.[10]

## Current committees

[edit]

As of December 2021, Eldridge sits on the following committees:[2]

* State Committee (Vice-Chair)
* Children and Family Affairs Subcommittee
* Civil Justice Committee
* Corrections Subcommittee
* Naming, Designating, & Private Acts Committee
* Covid-19 Committee of the Third Extraordinary Session

## Electoral record

[edit]

2018 Republican primary: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 4,435  | 62.8%
| Republican | Tommy Pedigo  | 2,532  | 37.2%
2018 general election: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 12,941  | 75.4%
| Democratic | Barbara Simmons  | 4,214  | 24.6%
2020 Republican primary: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 3,967  | 100.0%
2020 general election: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 17,156  | 100.0%
2022 Republican primary: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 3,203  | 74.7%
| Republican | Donel Shelton  | 1,085  | 25.3%
2022 general election: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 12,258  | 99.0%
2024 Republican primary: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 3,197  | 100.0%
2024 general election: Tennessee House of Representatives, District 10[1] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %

|
|
|

| Republican | Rick Eldridge  | 22,293  | 99.1%
| Independent | Nathan Dressel  | 212  | 0.9%

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Rick Eldridge". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
2. ^ a b "Representative Rick Eldridge". Tennessee General Assembly. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
3. ^ "Rick Eldridge's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
4. ^ Hightower, Cliff (November 7, 2018). "Hamblen County goes to the polls, backs Republican ticket". Citizen Tribune. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
5. ^ "Eldridge to run for State Rep". Citizen Tribune. November 5, 2018. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
6. ^ Allison, Natalie (August 11, 2021). "All Tennessee House Republicans ask Gov. Bill Lee to call a special session as school mask debates intensify". Tennessean.com. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
7. ^ Hightower, Cliff (August 17, 2021). "Lee issues order allowing parents to opt students out of school mask mandates". CitizenTribune.com. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
8. ^ Hightower, Cliff (November 15, 2021). "Officials to consider primaries for school board election". CitizenTribune.com. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
9. ^ Hightower, Cliff (December 29, 2021). "Eldridge: Redistricting plan would split Hamblen County". CitizenTribune.com. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
10. ^ 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. Retrieved April 7, 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives

114th General Assembly (2025–2026)

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. ▌Lee Reeves (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. ▌Gabby Salinas (D)
97. ▌John Gillespie (R)
98. ▌Antonio Parkinson (D)
99. ▌Tom Leatherwood (R)

* ▌Republican (75)
* ▌Democratic (24)

* Tennessee General Assembly
* House
* Senate
* List of past Assemblies

This Tennessee politician–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template