David Byrd (politician)

David Byrd (born September 8, 1957) is an American politician and retired basketball coach from the state of Tennessee. A Republican, Byrd represented the 71st district of the Tennessee House of Representatives, based in Hardin, Lawrence, Lewis, and Wayne Counties in rural Middle Tennessee, from 2015 to 2023.[1][2]

David Byrd
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
from the 71st district
In office
January 13, 2015 – January 10, 2023
Preceded byVance Dennis
Succeeded byKip Capley
Personal details
Born (1957-09-08) September 8, 1957
Political partyRepublican
SpouseSherry
Children4
Residence(s)Waynesboro, Tennessee
EducationFreed–Hardeman University (BS)
Tennessee State University (MS)
WebsiteOfficial website

Career

Byrd spent most of his career as a school administrator and basketball coach at Wayne County High School. He also served as a Wayne County Commissioner from 1990 through 1994.[3]

In 2014, Byrd announced he would challenge Vance Dennis, state representative for the 71st district, in the Republican primary. He narrowly defeated Dennis in the primary and went on to win the general election unopposed in the heavily Republican district.[3][4]

Sexual abuse allegations

In March 2018, three women accused Byrd of sexually abusing them while they were underage members of the high school basketball team he coached. Each of the three women detailed instances of Byrd touching and kissing them and making unwanted advances in 1988.[5] Byrd did not initially directly refute the allegations, and apologized to one of the women, but later issued a statement denying the accusations and "questioning the motives" of his accusers. Nonetheless, one of his alleged victims recorded him telling her, "I can promise you one thing, I have been so sorry for that, I've lived with that and you don't know how hard it has been for me."[6] He resisted calls to resign from influential Republicans such as Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, and won re-election in 2018.[7]

Calls for his resignation or retirement continued into 2019 and 2020, including an unsuccessful resolution by Democratic Rep. Gloria Johnson to expel Byrd from the House.[8] In August 2019, Byrd promised fellow lawmakers he would not seek re-election in 2020 at the request of Governor Bill Lee; however, he reneged on that promise in April 2020 and filed for re-election.[9] Byrd drew two challengers in the August 2020 primary, but he won re-election.

COVID-19

In June 2020, Byrd voted in support of Tennessee House Resolution 340 stating that "mainstream media has sensationalized the reporting on COVID-19 in the service of political agendas."[10][11] In December 2020, Byrd was hospitalized with COVID-19.[12] He had attended a caucus meeting with nearly 70 House Republicans in the House chamber on November 24, a week-and-a-half before he was hospitalized with the virus. He spent a total of eight months in the hospital, 55 days on a ventilator, and required a liver transplant in June 2021. His condition was so grave, that his family had planned for his funeral.[13][14] After recovering from the disease, he tepidly urged people to get vaccinated saying "I understand the concerns of those who are hesitant [to get the vaccine]. To them, I would say COVID is real, and it is very dangerous. It is a disease that wants to kill us. Please consider getting vaccinated."[15]

However, on August 11, 2021, he joined all members of the state house Republican caucus in signing a letter to Governor Bill Lee asking him to prohibit mask and vaccine mandates.[6]

Byrd did not run for re-election in 2022.

Personal life

Byrd lives in Waynesboro with his wife Sherry; they have four children and five grandchildren.[1]

References
  1. "Representative David Byrd". capitol.tn.gov. Tennessee General Assembly. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  2. "David Byrd (Tennessee)". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  3. Tom Humphrey (March 9, 2014). "Former basketball coach seeks House District 71 seat". Knox Blogs. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  4. "Campfield among 7 state legislature incumbents defeated". The Jackson Sun. August 8, 2014. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  5. Alanna Autler (March 27, 2018). "3 former players accuse Rep. David Byrd of sexual misconduct while they were teens". WSMV-TV. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  6. Michael Daly (August 13, 2021). "This Tennessee Republican Nearly Died From COVID. Now He's Fighting Masks". The Daily Beast.
  7. Jon Garcia (February 20, 2019). "What to know about embattled Tennessee lawmaker David Byrd and the allegations against him". The Tennessean. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  8. Natalie Allison (February 5, 2020). "Resolution filed again to expel Rep. David Byrd from legislature over sexual assault allegations". The Tennessean. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  9. Stephen Elliott (April 1, 2020). "David Byrd will run for re-election after all". Nashville Post. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  10. Van Huss, James (June 19, 2020). "Votes: TN HR0340 - 2019-2020 - 111th General Assembly". Tennessee General Assembly. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  11. Van Huss (June 19, 2020). "A RESOLUTION to memorialize the mainstream media for sensationalism to advance their political agendas" (PDF). Tennessee General Assembly. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 2, 2021.
  12. Allison, Natalie (December 10, 2020). "Tennessee GOP legislator says he may be put on ventilator due to COVID, needs 'miracle'". The Tennessean. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  13. Garner, Glenn (August 2, 2021). "Tennessee GOP Lawmaker Reverses Stance on COVID After 8-Month Hospitalization: 'Pure Agony'". People. Archived from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  14. Bellware, Kim (August 1, 2021). "GOP lawmaker who once spurned masks urges people to take covid-19 seriously after eight-month illness". The Washington Post.
  15. Loh, Matthew. "Tennessee GOP rep who rejected masks now says COVID-19 is 'real and dangerous' after his 8-month battle with the virus". Insider. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
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