Mike Kernell (born December 20, 1951, in Memphis, Tennessee) is a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Kernell is married with two children.[1]
Kernell, a Democrat, was first elected to the 89th Tennessee General Assembly in 1974; he lives in Memphis and represents the 93rd district (a portion of Shelby County).[2] He is Vice Chair of the Government Operations Committee[3] and is a member of the Conservation and Environment Committee,the Parks and Tourism and Wildlife Subcommittee.[1]
Kernell opposed 2004 cutbacks to TennCare,[4] which he criticized for moving the burden of paying for medical care received by the uninsured to local taxpayers.[5]
In October 2008, Kernell's son David was indicted by a Tennessee grand jury in connection with the unauthorized access of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo! Mail account.[6] David Kernell entered a plea of not guilty, and Mike Kernell has denied knowing anything about the incident.[7] David Kernell was convicted April 30, 2010 on two charges after four days of jury deliberation. He was found guilty of anticipatory obstruction of justice and unauthorized access to a computer, but was acquitted on a charge of wire fraud.[8] The younger Kernell with the support of his father is appealing the convictions.
In the November 4, 2008 elections, Kernell defeated Republican candidate and former Homeland Security agent Tim Cook.[9][10][11][12]
Cook was again the Republican nominee in 2010, and Kernell again defeated him, with 6,478 votes to Cook's 4,518.[13]
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