Mike Kernell (born December 20, 1951, in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

) is a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1975-2012. Kernell is married with two children. Kernell, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, was first elected to the 89th Tennessee General Assembly in 1974. He lives in Memphis and represented the 93rd district (a portion of Shelby County). He was Vice Chair of the Government Operations Committee and was a member of the Conservation and Environment Committee, the Parks and Tourism and Wildlife Subcommittee.Tennessee House of Representatives: Mike Kernell Biography
Kernell opposed 2004 cutbacks to

TennCare TennCare is the state Medicaid program in the U.S. state of Tennessee. TennCare was established in 1994 under a federal waiver that authorized deviations from the standard Medicaid rules. It was the first state Medicaid program to enroll all Medi ...

, which he criticized for moving the burden of paying for medical care received by the uninsured to local taxpayers. In October 2008, Kernell's son David was indicted by a

grand jury in connection with the unauthorized access of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's

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account. David entered a plea of not guilty, and Mike Kernell has denied knowing anything about the incident. David 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. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2014, David participated in clinical research trials at the Cedars-Sinai Neurosciences Research Center in Los Angeles to help develop cures and treatments for other victims of MS. After release from BOP custody, he returned to the

University of Tennessee, Knoxville The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

to finish an economics degree. He volunteered his programming skills expertise to Tennessee Voices for Children, a child advocacy nonprofit group. After moving to California, David developed facial recognition software that could identify children at risk of abuse. He died on February 1 or 2, 2018, at the age of 30, from complications related to progressive MS.

Re-election

In the November 4, 2008 elections, Mike Kernell defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate and former

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agent Tim Cook. Cook was again the Republican nominee in 2010, and Kernell again defeated him, with 6,478 votes to Cook's 4,518. Kernell's district was redrawn in 2012 by the Republican-controlled legislature, pitting him against fellow Democratic incumbent G. A. Hardaway in the August 2, 2012 Democratic primary. Kernell lost to Hardaway, ending his 38-year tenure. Hardaway won the primary with 2,927 votes (61.0%), and was unopposed in the November 6, 2012 General election, winning with 16,126 votes.

References

External links

Official legislative pageProject Vote Smart - Voting Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kernell, Mike 1951 births Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Living people Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee