Riley Carlisle Darnell (May 13, 1940 – October 2, 2020) was an American politician and lawyer who served in 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 ...

from the 67th district,

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any issue rega ...

from the 22nd district, Majority Leader of the Tennessee Senate, and as

Tennessee Secretary of State The Tennessee Secretary of State is an office created by the Tennessee State Constitution. The Secretary of State is responsible for many of the administrative aspects of the operation of state government of Tennessee. The current Secretary of S ...

as a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Darnell was born in

Clarksville, Tennessee Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 166,722 as of the 2020 United States ce ...

, and educated at Clarksville High School,

Austin Peay State University Austin Peay State University () is a public university in Clarksville, Tennessee. Standing on a site occupied by a succession of educational institutions since 1845, the precursor of the university was established in 1927 and named for then-sitt ...

, and

Vanderbilt University Law School Vanderbilt University Law School (also known as Vanderbilt Law School or VLS) is a graduate school of Vanderbilt University. Established in 1874, it is one of the oldest law schools in the southern United States. Vanderbilt Law School has consiste ...

. In 1970, he was elected to the

with the Democratic nomination and during his tenure in the House of Representatives he served on the Judicial, Finance, and Fiscal Review committees. In 1980, he was elected to the Tennessee Senate and during his tenure in the Senate he served on the Transportation, Ethics, Finance Ways and Means, Fiscal Review, and the Children and Youth committees. Darnell unsuccessfully sought the position of Speaker of the Senate against incumbent John Shelton Wilder in 1986. In 1989, he was selected to serve as Majority Leader of the Tennessee Senate. He lost reelection in 1992, but successfully defeated incumbent Secretary of State Bryant Millsaps and served in that position until 2009.

Early life

Riley Carlisle Darnell was born on May 13, 1940, in

, to Elliot S. Darnell and Mary Anita Whitefield. Riley graduated from Clarksville High School in 1958, graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from

in 1962, and graduated with a

juris doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

in 1965. He was accepted into the Tennessee State Bar in 1965. From 1966 to 1969, he served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. He married Penny Corckarell, with whom he had five children.

Career

Tennessee House of Representatives

Riley announced in 1970 that he would seek the Democratic nomination for a seat in the

from the 67th district to succeed Frank J. Runyon. He won the Democratic nomination and faced no opposition in the general election. He was reelected in 1972, 1974, 1976, and 1978. During the 1976 presidential election Riley supported and served as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

for

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

from the 6th congressional district during the Democratic presidential primaries. Riley was appointed to serve on the Judicial and Finance committees in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1971. In 1975, Riley was selected over state Senator Doug Henry to succeed Representative John Hicks as chairman of the Fiscal Review committee.

Tennessee Senate

Riley announced in 1980 that he would seek the Democratic nomination for a seat in the

from the 22nd district to succeed Halbert Harvill. He won the Democratic nomination against Perkins Freeman and Max Nichols and won in the general election against

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 ...

nominee Alton Boyd. He was reelected in 1984, and 1988, but lost reelection to Carol Rice in 1992. During the 1984 presidential election Riley supported and served on

Walter Mondale Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 42nd vice president of the United States from 1977 to 1981 under President Jimmy Carter. A U.S. senator from Minnesota ...

's Tennessee steering committee during the Democratic presidential primaries. Riley was appointed to serve on the Finance Ways and Means committee, as vice-chairman of the Transportation committee, and as chairman of the Ethics committee in the Tennessee Senate in 1981. In 1983, he was appointed to serve as a member of the Finance Ways and Means committee, vice-chairman of the Fiscal Review committee, and as chairman of the Transportation committee. He was selected to serve as chairman of the Select Committee on Children and Youth in 1987. From 1989 to 1992, he served as the Majority Leader of the Tennessee Senate. On November 9, 1986, fifteen of the twenty-three Democrats in the Tennessee Senate voted to support Riley for the position of Speaker of the Senate, which informally served as the Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee, against incumbent John Shelton Wilder. However, Wilder defeated Riley with eighteen votes, with his support coming from eight Democrats and ten Republicans, against Riley's fifteen votes. Wilder later appointed Joe Nip McKnight to replace Darnell as chairman of the Transportation committee.

Tennessee Secretary of State

On November 9, 1992, Darnell announced that he would seek the office of

against incumbent Bryant Millsaps after he had lost reelection to the Tennessee Senate. Darnell won the Democratic nomination against Millsaps on November 19, and was elected as Secretary of State on

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...

on January 13, 1993. Darnell was reelected in 1997, 2001, and 2005. He lost reelected to Republican nominee

Tre Hargett Gus Lusk "Tré" Hargett III (born February 7, 1969) is an American Republican Party politician who is serving as the 37th Secretary of State of Tennessee since 2009. Early life and education He is the son of Tennessee Adjutant General Gus L. H ...

in 2009.

Death

Riley died from cancer in Clarksville, Tennessee, on October 2, 2020, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darnell, Riley 1940 births 2020 deaths People from Clarksville, Tennessee Military personnel from Tennessee Austin Peay State University alumni Vanderbilt University Law School alumni Tennessee lawyers Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Democratic Party Tennessee state senators Secretaries of State of Tennessee