By Connie Reguli, J.D.

So I moved to Rutherford County in August 2025, but I was not a stranger to the community. My mother lived in RuCo since 1995. I have worked for many clients in RuCo over my twenty-eight year legal career. And I have solicited RuCo politicians and events to support legislation that supports families and children.

But let’s dig down to the donuts and talk Tennessee.

My goal is to increase engagement in voting and citizen lobbying. First, the citizenry must know the nuts and bolts.

Rutherford County population is about 386,000. The county covers 624 square miles. The county’s interactive GIS map can be reached here where you can find precincts, voting centers, county commissioner districts, school board districts, road board, and congressional districts. This tool allows you to select the field of information you want to examine, zoom in to identify streets, and even allows you to plug yourself in to identify exactly where you are on the map.

In case you have trouble with the link, here is the QR code to take your there:

Rutherford County is blessed with a university, a vibrant cultural environment, historic landmarks, and a diverse population, BUT it’s public participation in the electoral process is dismissal.

In the 2018 August primary for government, out of the over 386,000 residents, only 27,840 cast a vote. This is a critical marker for state politics because 2018 was the last gubernatorial race which elected Bill Lee as governor. The primary vote is pivotal. Tennessee has a super red majority and has built is RED RED RED political face since 2010. But do not be fooled, RED does not mean conservative. Unless the conservative RED population gets activated to become educated and votes in the primary, our political machine will be driven on naivety of the voters. And trust me, the big political action committees and corporate influence on our politicians will chose who runs our state.

Let’s start with these three maps. First, your representatives in the Tennessee General Assembly. A shocking percentage of the population do not even know who represents them at the state level. As a three decades grassroots activist and citizen lobbyist, I am here to tell you that they don’t really care if you don’t know who they are. If you know who they are, you might call or email or visit them. It takes a lot of energy to respond to the citizenry. So, to many state level representatives, they are happy with you not knowing. Here is another critical element. If the citizenry become knowledgeable about the political machine and operation, they may vote them out and get new representatives. It’s just the truth. If you know them, either they must respond to you or you can vote for someone else.

This is your State House map:

There are five state house members representing Rutherford County. You can go to the website and learn more about each.

There is a wealth of information on each representative, their legislation, committees, personal background, and their contact information.

We have Districts 13, 34, 37, 48, and 49. All representatives serving Rutherford County are Republican.

District 13: Representative Robert Stevens is a Christian and an attorney who has served for about four years and was on the Rutherford County Commission for about 12 years starting in 2010.

District 34: Representative Tim Rudd is real estate agent and a Baptist who has served since 2017. He is a member of National Right to Life and the National Rifle Association.

District 37: Representative Charlie Baum is a college professor and Methodist who has served since 2019. He was on the Rutherford County Commission from 2010 to 2018.

District 48: Representative Bryan Terry is a physician and an interdenominational Christian who has served since 2015. He is a member of the National Rifle Association.

District 49: Representative Mike Sparks is business owner and a Baptist who has served since 2011. He was a Rutherford County Commissioner from 2002 until 2010.

This is your State Senate Map:

There are two State Senators serving Rutherford County. There are both Republican.

Districts 13 and 14.

District 13: Senator Dawn White is a former teacher and business owner and a Baptist who has served since 2019 and served in the State House for four years prior to being elected to Senate. She is a member of Junior League and a board member of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).

District 14: Senator Shane Reeves is a pharmacist and a Christian who was served since 2017. He was the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce past president and a member of the American Heart Association and American Cancer Association.

If you are not quite sure by looking at the map. You can go here to see the Tennessee General Assembly interactive map and type in your address to be sure. You should to the page of your representative and senator and send them a personal email and introduce yourself and your personal concerns about your community. Then call the number to make sure they received your email.

The County government is run by the mayor and the county commission. Here is the county commission map:

Through the website, you can find your commissioner, the date, time, and location of meetings, the agendas, and the budget. The Court commission will also work with the school board on issues related to schools. You also have a Rutherford County School Board and a Murfreesboro City School Board. The school boards hire the superintendent, have some control over cirriculum. libraries, ethical conduct of teachers, code of conduct for students, and activities of the children, including school safety.

NOW LET’S TALK VOTING:

Rutherford County Election Commission lists the elections dates and candidates. This is always a quick stop to check on the election cycle. Most people only think about the National Election day in November, but the State of Tennessee holds a primary in May for county officials and a general election for county officials in August; there is a State and Congressional primary in August and general election in November. And Tennessee participates in SUPER TUESDAY in late February or March when there is a presidential election which is the primary and the parties select their presidential candidates for each political party. Super Tuesday is also the election where the delegates are elected to carry the Tennessee voters decision to the political party convention. These are different from the electors who report the states electoral college votes to Congress on the first Tuesday in January. Those electors are most often selected at a state party convention. The general public does NOT select the electors.

Now – Rutherford County voters to to VOTING CENTERS to cast their vote. There are 30 voting centers in Rutherford County and you do not have to live in the area of the voting center. You can pick a voting center close to home, close to work, or just close to the grocery store. You will need identification. There is an early voting schedule of about two weeks prior to the ELECTION DAY (both for primary and general elections). This website page will give you an option to select the election calendar which will change every year.

However, if you want to be an active participant in the election cycle and do more than just vote, you should learn your look at your election precinct. Although we don’t use precinct voting in Rutherford County, this is a geographic voter boundary that creates a workable area for you to meet your neighbors, have collective meetings to discuss candidates and issues, and encourage informative candidate selection.

If you are not sure, you can go back to the GIS map link and add the locator option to pin point where you are on this map.

Of course, some of the precincts are geographically larger than others since the area is based on population.

I invite you to follow my work on social media. Facebook: Connie Reguli / Connie Reguli Family Advocacy Center / Tiktok: familyfoward / Instagram and X: Connie Reguli.

You can join me at the General Assembly, meeting with legislators, attending hearings, and writing legislation. I have been an active citizen lobbyist since 2008 and practiced law since 1994. I want our politicians accountable and our government transparent. Together, an informed citizenry and an active voter base can make a difference in our quality of life.

Connie Reguli

Connie.familyforward@gmail.com