David Byrd (born September 8, 1957) is an American politician and retired
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
coach from the state of
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 ...
. A
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 ...
, Byrd represented the 71st district of the
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Constitutional requirements
According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...
, based in
Hardin,
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
,
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
, and
Wayne Counties in rural
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...
, from 2015 to 2023.
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.
In 2014, Byrd announced he would challenge
Vance Dennis
Vance Dennis is a former Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the 71st district, encompassing Savannah, Tennessee, Hardin County, McNairy County and part of Decatur County.
Early life, education, and early career
Denn ...
,
state representative
A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.
Two federations literally use the term "state legislature":
* The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
for the 71st district, in the
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 ...
primary. He narrowly defeated Dennis in the primary and went on to win the general election unopposed in the heavily Republican district.
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. 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."
He resisted calls to resign from influential Republicans such as
Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.
Constitutional requirements
According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consi ...
Beth Harwell
Beth Halteman Harwell (born July 24, 1957, in Norristown, Pennsylvania) is a member of the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the former List of Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives, Speaker of the Tennessee Ho ...
, and won re-election in 2018.
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. In August 2019, Byrd promised fellow lawmakers he would not seek re-election in 2020 at the request of
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Bill Lee; however, he reneged on that promise in April 2020 and filed for re-election. 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
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
in the service of political agendas." In December 2020, Byrd was
hospitalized with COVID-19. 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
A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...
, and required a
liver transplant
Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a Liver disease, diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and ...
in June 2021. His condition was so grave, that his family had planned for his funeral. After recovering from the disease, he tepidly urged people to get vaccinated saying "I understand the concerns of those who are hesitant
o 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."
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.
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.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrd, David
Living people
Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives
21st-century American politicians
1957 births
Tennessee State University alumni
People from Waynesboro, Tennessee