Stacey Campfield

Stacey Campfield
Member of the Tennessee Senate from the 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 3, 2010
Preceded by	Tim Burchett
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 14th district
In office January 3, 2005 – November 3, 2010
Preceded by	Steven Buttry
Succeeded by	Steve Hall
Personal details
Born	(1968-06-08) June 8, 1968 Vestal, New York
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Broome Community College (B.S.) Excelsior College (A.A.)
Profession	Politician Real estate developer Landlord
Religion	Roman Catholic[1]

Stacey Campfield (born June 8, 1968) is an American politician. He serves as the Republican member of the Tennessee Senate from the 7th district, encompassing Knoxville, Farragut, and other parts of Knox County.^[1][2]

Background

Campfield was born on June 8, 1968.^[3] Originally from Vestal, New York, and a 1986 graduate of Vestal High School, Campfield moved to Knoxville at age 25.^[4] He received a B.S. in Management and an Associate degree in Marketing from Regents College, now known as Excelsior College in Albany, New York.^[3] He received another Associate from Broome Community College.^[3] He has been involved with the Young Republicans, the College Republicans, and the American Red Cross.^[3] Campfield is an unmarried Catholic.^[5]

Tennessee House of Representatives

He was first elected in 2004 to the Tennessee House of Representatives.

In 2005, Campfield said that he was interested in joining the legislative Black Caucus.^[6] Campfield described the group's bylaws as racist because he said they restrict membership based on race, which described as being more restrictive than the Ku Klux Klan's bylaws.^[6] The leader of the Black Caucus considered asking members of the group to vote on whether to give Campfield honorary membership, but Campfield said he only wanted full membership.^[7]

As of 2006, felons were eligible to vote in Tennessee as long as they are not delinquent on any payments of child support or victim restitution.^[8] Because there is no law prohibiting voting by non-felons who are delinquent on child support payment, a bill was proposed dropping the eligibility for felons of being timely with child support payments in 2006.^[8] Campfield opposed the bill, saying that one way a felon can show rehabilitation is by being timely on any child support payments.^[8]

Campfield sponsored a bill to issue death certificates for aborted fetuses in 2007.^[9] Campfield said he wanted people to be able to find out how many abortions were being performed in Tennessee.^[10] Tennessee already required abortions to be reported to the Office of Vital Records, and the number of abortions performed in the state was publicly available.^[10]

In 2008, Campfield sponsored a bill requiring public colleges in Tennessee to allow their full-time employees with state-issued handgun-carry permits to carry their handguns on campus.^[11] The Tennessee Board of Regent opposed the bill, saying that only campus security police at universities should possess weapons on their campuses, and that local police are the best way to protect community college campuses.^[11] Two years later, he sponsored a bill to make private the names of people with state-issued handgun permits, but not the names of people whose permits had been revoked.^[12]

Campfield proposed a bill to ban teachers from teaching about homosexuality in Tennessee's public elementary and middle schools in 2008,^[13] saying that the topic should only be discussed by each student's family.^[14] The bill died in committee.^[13] The Tennessee Equality Project opposed the bill, saying that teachers need not advocate for or against homosexuality, but they should allow students to debate the issue of homosexuality.^[14]

In 2008, Campfield proposed a bill to prohibit Tennessee public colleges from admitting illegal immigrants.^[15] Campfield said that if students cannot enroll in classes with unpaid parking tickets, then students should not be able to enroll in classes if they are in violation of federal immigration laws either.^[15]

In 2009, Campfield introduced a bill to limit lottery winnings to $600 for people on public assistance.^[16] Campfield said that people on public assistance should not be buying lottery tickets and instead should be using that money to buy food for their children.^[16] Tennessee law already prohibited the use of public assistance money to purchase lottery tickets. The bill also prohibited prisoners from redeeming winning lottery tickets.^[16]

Tennessee Senate

In 2010 Campfield was elected to the State Senate.^[17] The seat was previously held by Tim Burchett.^[3] His opponent, Democrat Randy Walker, had openly solicited support from moderate Republicans in the November election but was defeated 37–53%.^[18][19]

Tennessee holds open primaries, where any voter may vote in any party's primary election.^[20] Campfield introduced a bill to change to a closed primary.^[20] The bill would only allow a registered voter to vote in a primary election if the voter was affiliated with that particular political party.^[20] Campfield said that voters often vote in the other party's primary in order to vote for a weaker candidate or one that is closer to the voter's own party's politician positions, both of which Campfield opposed.^[20] Campfield's time in the Tennessee Senate has been met with much national controversy and opposition:

State Tribal Recognition for Culture Clubs

In three successive years, 2011 - SB 1802,^[21] 2012 - SB 2177,^[22] 2013 - SB 489,^[23] Campfield sponsored bills to grant state tribal recognition to six recently created culture clubs of undocumented Native American descendants,^[24] which would have also appointed the six groups, known collectively as the "Confederation of Tennessee Native Tribes", as the means for other culture clubs to receive state recognition as Native American Indian tribes. The bills were either withdrawn or died in committee. Campfield's sponsorship was seen as largely 'carrying water'^[25] for Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey in whose district one of the groups also resides and whose previous state representative Nathan Vaughn initiated the legislation in 2008.

"Don't Say Gay" bill

In 2011 as a senator, he revived his 2008 "anti gay education" bill as SB49, the so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill,^[26] and it gained national and international attention.^{[27][28][29][30][31]} Openly gay filmmaker Del Shores challenged him to a debate about it.^[32] Lillian Faderman and Harvard historian Ian Lekus agreed it encouraged dishonesty and could lead to further suicide among LGBT youth.^[33] In an interview, Sen Campfield explained he supported anti-bullying legislations for all children, not just for the LGBT community.^[34] Later however, he remarked that "that bullying thing is the biggest lark out there."^[35][36]

Reporting child's homosexuality to parents

In January 2013, Campfield introduced a modified version of his "Don't Say Gay" bill. This version allows teachers and guidance counselors to answer a child's private questions about sexuality, but forces them to tell the child's parents if they do.^[37]

Decreased welfare to families with a child making inadequate academic progress

In 2013, Campfield introduced Senate Bill 0132^[38] which cuts by 30% the payment made to parents or caretakers of children in families eligible for Tennessee's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program if any of the children fail to meet requirements for grades or attendance.^[39]

In April 2013, the Senator withdrew his support for this Bill after an organized protest of clergy and community members at the State Capitol. Eight year old girl Aamira Fetuga followed him around Capitol Hill with a signed petition opposing the Bill asking him questions and sharing her concerns. The bill was withdrawn shortly thereafter.^[40]

Other controversies

Barbecue incident

In 2002, at one of Republican Congressman Jimmy Duncan's annual barbecues, Campfield harassed Phil Bredesen, who was the incoming Governor of Tennessee. He followed Bredesen around with a sign saying "Tax 'n' Spend Governor" until he was forcibly removed by security.^[41][42]

2009 Masked Luchador incident at UT Neyland Stadium football game

Rep. Stacey Campfield attended the October 31, 2009 Volunteers football game with the University of South Carolina at the University of Tennessee Neyland Stadium where he was briefly questioned, searched, and detained after the mother of two young girls complained that a luchador-masked Campfield had reportedly frightened two young girls in Section B seating (the girls had previously been told by UT stadium security that masks were not allowed to be worn inside the stadium for the Halloween football game). Campfield was reported as only having stadium seating admission tickets for Section LL upon being questioned by Knox County Sheriffs Department deputies and was then escorted outside of the stadium by two deputies.^[43][44]

Campfield on the origin and transmission of AIDS

Campfield is also well known for his controversial remarks about homosexuality. In a January 2012 interview with Michelangelo Signorile, he stated "most people realize that AIDS came from the homosexual community – it was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall.... My understanding is that it is virtually – not completely, but virtually – impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex...very rarely [transmitted]."^[35][36] He later quoted the odds of heterosexual vaginal transmission at 1 in 5 million. ^{[citation needed]}

Medical authority sources disagree: "When risk is assessed per act of unprotected vaginal intercourse" (between an infected male and a female partner), "the chance of HIV transmission is estimated to be between 1 in 500 and 1 in 1000."^[45] Contrary to Campfield's statement, HIV's various distinct strains likely arose in humans on numerous separate occasions because of the handling and consumption of bushmeat infected with Simian immunodeficiency virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.^[46] HIV was then transmitted among humans largely via unprotected heterosexual sex, which is the cause of most African cases of AIDS.^[47] Health experts have expressed concern about the possible health consequences of Campfield's remarks.^[46] The airline pilot reference might be referring to Gaëtan Dugas, who was a flight attendant sometimes referred to as "patient zero."

When later asked about his comments, Campfield said that some of his comments were taken out of context, saying that "I’m not a historian on AIDS ... but I’ve read and seen what other people have read and seen and those facts are out there."^[48]

Bistro at the Bijou in Knoxville

On January 29, 2012, the owner of the cafe Bistro at the Bijou, Martha Boggs in Knoxville asked Stacey Campfield to leave the restaurant as a stand for gay rights.^[49] He was asked to leave after his anti-gay remarks and his assertion that HIV cannot be transmitted through heterosexual sex. Customers cheered when Campfield left the establishment.

Comments about Hurricane Isaac

In his personal blog while attending the Republican National Convention in August, 2012, Campfield expressed displeasure with the convention being postponed for Hurricane Isaac for what he dismissed as just a little wind and rain. He wrote, "All I can say is if this is a hurricane then East Tennessee has one about every other week. Seriously. It's not that bad."^[50] The hurricane went on to do over US$2 billion in damages and put more than 4 million people out of electricity.^{[citation needed]} Campfield may have been referring to the weather in Tampa, Florida, where the convention was taking place, not the hurricane that later affected Louisiana and westernmost Florida.^{[citation needed]}

Support for Todd Akin

Campfield posted on his personal blog, "Akin Wrong? Not so fast" and then linked to an article supporting the idea that stress can cause spontaneous abortions.^[51]

Intellectual property

Since March 2005, Campfield has maintained a public blog^[52] that includes a warning that any quotation from it for print will be charged at "$1,000 USD per word".

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Stacey Campfield

• Campfield's blog
• Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002

v t e Members of the Tennessee State Senate 108th General Assembly (2013-2015) Speaker of the Senate: Ron Ramsey (R) Speaker pro Tempore: Bo Watson (R) Majority Leader: Mark Norris (R) Minority Leader: Jim Kyle (D)        Steve Southerland (R)    Doug Overbey (R)    Rusty Crowe (R)    Ron Ramsey (R)    Randy McNally (R)    Becky Duncan Massey (R)    Stacey Campfield (R)    Frank S. Niceley (R)    Mike Bell (R)    Todd Gardenhire (R)    Bo Watson (R)    Ken Yager (R)    Bill Ketron (R)    Jim Tracy (R)    Charlotte Burks (D)    Janice Bowling (R)    Mae Beavers (R)    Ferrell Haile (R)    Thelma Harper (D)    Steven Dickerson (R)    Douglas Henry (D)    Mark Green (R)    Jack Johnson (R)    John Stevens (R)    Jim Summerville (R)    Dolores Gresham (R)    Lowe Finney (D)    Joey Hensley (R)    Ophelia Ford (D)    Jim Kyle (D)    Brian Kelsey (R)    Mark Norris (R)    Reginald Tate (D)    Republican (26)    Democratic (7) Tennessee General Assembly Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee State Senate

Persondata
Name	Campfield, Stacey
Alternative names
Short description	American politician
Date of birth	June 8, 1968
Place of birth	Vestal, New York
Date of death
Place of death