With much of the vote tallied across the state, there are only handful of legislative races still in play, the Tennessee Journal reports. In a race Democrats have long sought to flip, challenger Heidi Campbell beat incumbent Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, by a vote of 52% to 48%. It appears all other incumbents held on to their seats. In House races, incumbent Memphis Rep. John DeBerry, who ran for re-election as an independent, lost to Democrat Torrey Harris by a vote of 77% to 23%. Torrey also becomes the first of two openly LGBT legislators elected. In the open seat to succeed retiring Rep. Jim Coley, R-Bartlett, Republican John Gillespie is leading Democrat Gabby Salinas by a slim margin at press time but is projected to win the race. In the open seat to succeed retiring Rep. Martin Daniel, R-Knoxville, Republican businessman Eddie Mannis, the other openly LGBT legislator elected this year, defeated Democrat Virginia Couch. Access all election results on the Secretary of State's website.

Republican Bill Hagerty beat Democratic candidate Marquita Bradshaw yesterday to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander in the U.S. Senate. Hagerty — a businessman, political donor and former ambassador to Japan — won the seat with 62% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State’s office. Bradshaw, an environmental activist from Memphis, advanced to the general election after a surprise primary victory over Nashville attorney James Mackler. She garnered 35% of the general election vote in a field that included nine independent candidates. The Nashville Post has more on the race.

Charlene Simmons, chief equity deputy clerk at the Hamilton County Clerk & Master’s Office, will retire in December after 40 years of service, the Hamilton County Herald reports. Simmons began her long tenure with the county courts in the child support division of the Juvenile Court, where she served for 16 years, working her way from receptionist to legal assistant. She briefly served as Chancellor Howell Peoples’ judicial clerk, but soon switched jobs with an employee in the Clerk & Master’s Office. For 17 years she was the face of the office, and according to local attorneys, often went out of her way to help them.

Though Election Day has passed, a number of national races remain undecided and legal challenges are expected. U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier of the Eastern District of Tennessee writes in the Hamilton County Herald that challenges to election results “illustrate the importance of the courts in protecting the fundamental right to vote.” His article looks at three cases involving past Tennessee voting disputes and how the federal courts play a critical role in protecting individual rights, including the right to vote.

TBA sponsor Attorney's Insurance Mutual of the South will host a roundtable focused on cybersecurity issues — including phishing emails, ransomware attacks and computer security — on Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. CST. Alabama attorney J.S. “Chris” Christie Jr., a partner at Sirote & Permutt in Birmingham, will lead the discussion. Christie frequently speaks and writes on a range of issue. He says cyber scams are increasingly focusing on law firms, especially as more lawyers work remotely. Register by 11 a.m. CST the morning of the program to receive the log in information.

The TBA General-Solo Section will hold its annual Fall FastTrack program virtually on Nov. 19. The program will feature civil procedure best practices, tips for collecting evidence, tech considerations for small firms and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to secure all your CLE hours for 2020. Four hours will be offered live on Nov. 19. Attendees then will have access to three webinars custom-tailored to the needs of general-solo practitioners. Finally, attendees will receive eight hours of prepaid credit to use on any of TBA’s CLE offerings through the end of the year. And remember: all 2020 CLE hours can be taken online and TBA members get discounted pricing on all CLE programs.

Hundreds of lawyers around the country are at the ready to fight legal battles over which ballots can be counted and how the process should unfold, the ABA Journal reports. According to a New York Times article, the deployments, which involve hundreds of lawyers from each side, "go well beyond what has become normal since the disputed outcome in 2000, and are the result of the open efforts of President Trump and the Republicans to disqualify votes on technicalities." Some lawyers believe that unclear postmarks could be the 2020 equivalent of the “dimpled chads” from the 2000 Florida recount that ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court.  

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., today ordered the U.S. Postal Service to sweep its facilities for remaining mail ballots and rush their delivery, The Hill reports. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan gave postal workers until 3 p.m. EST to "ensure that no ballots have been held up" in regions that have been slow to process mail ballots. The order applies to areas within battleground states Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Florida and Arizona. With the exception of Pennsylvania and Texas, each of those states requires that mail ballots be received by the close of polls on Election Day, meaning late-arriving ballots would not be counted. Sullivan gave the order after data from the Postal Service showed continued delays in various regions of the country.

Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle on Tuesday ruled that a petition to repeal Nashville’s property tax increase may not go on the ballot before voters, the Tennessean reports. The proposed ballot measure calls for rolling back the city’s recent property tax increase, capping future increases to 2% without voter approval and requiring certain bonds to go before voters. Lyle ruled that the petition is invalid and said the provisions went beyond referendum authority, attempted to repeal the already enacted tax levy ordinance and would impair the city's obligations with existing contracts. Lyle's order Tuesday is not final, as there are some complaints that still need to be litigated. It is not yet clear if the author of the petition, Nashville attorney Jim Roberts, will appeal the decision.

The presidents of Lincoln Memorial University and Austin Peay State University last month signed an agreement that will allow APSU students to earn their bachelor’s and law degrees within six years. Through the “three plus three” program, APSU students could apply to LMU’s Duncan School of Law following their third year of undergraduate studies. After completing their first year at LMU Law, those hours can be transferred toward completion of APSU’s Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Public Management degree. LMU Law Vice President and Dean Matt Lyon said he was “thrilled” with the partnership, adding, “our universities’ missions are very similar, and we believe that APSU undergraduates will feel very much at home at LMU Law.” Read more from LMU Law’s website.