Byron Looper - The Campaign Following The Murder

The Campaign Following The Murder

Tennessee state law required that the name of a candidate who died before the election be removed from the ballot, and it did not allow the candidate's party to replace a deceased candidate who died within 30 days of the election. Accordingly, after Burks' death, Looper became the only candidate listed on the official ballot for Burks' senate seat. This may have been Looper's intention.

Several people tried to have Looper's name stricken from the ballot, claiming that Looper's arrest constituted moral turpitude. Even though lists of campaign contributions and paid political advisers showed unquestionable past ties to the Tennessee Republican Party, the state Republican Party distanced itself from Looper. To prevent Looper from winning the state senate seat on a technicality, Burks' widow, Charlotte was put forth as a write-in candidate for her husband's seat. Dozens of volunteers helped her campaign, including some Republicans. On election day, Charlotte Burks, as a write-in candidate, won the seat with 30,252 votes against Looper's 1,531 votes. One of her first initiatives as state senator was to introduce legislation to ensure that the name of any candidate who dies within 40 days of an election could remain on the ballot, thus preventing the situation that occurred after her husband's death. Charlotte Burks remains in the state senate, having won re-election in 2002, 2006, and 2010.