Gov. Lee asked Rep. Byrd not to run for reelection

NASHVILLE — While Gov. Bill Lee still has not called for Rep. David Byrd to resign from office, he asked the embattled lawmaker in a private phone call last month not to seek reelection.

Byrd, R-waynesboro, has for more than a year faced public allegations from three women who say he sexually assaulted them when they were 15 and 16 years old in the 1980s.

He was their teacher and basketball coach at Wayne County High School at the time.

A member of the governor’s administration, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed on Wednesday that the phone call to Byrd took place a few weeks ago.

Byrd indicated to Lee at the time that he would think about doing so, but did not make a commitment, according to the administration official.

Byrd has another year and a half left on his current term. He could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Governor’s office walks back claim that Byrd will be out ‘soon’

Confirmation of Lee’s request for Byrd not to run again came as a video surfaced Tuesday of an activist asking the governor at the Meigs County Boys and Girls Club that day whether Byrd would be ousted from the legislature.

“Will you get the child molester out of the legislature right away, David Byrd, get him out of there?” asked Anna Grabowski as she shouted questions at Lee as he entered the event.

“That’s going to happen soon,” Lee replied.

On Wednesday, his press secretary suggested that Lee misheard the woman’s question and believed she was asking about House Speaker Glen Casada, who is stepping down as speaker Aug. 2 but will retain his seat in the legislature.

“As the governor entered a crowded event, questions were shouted at him that he understood to be about Speaker Casada and he responded accordingly,” spokeswoman Laine Arnold said. “His position on Rep. Byrd continues to be that it is past time for the representatives to respond to allegations.”

Lee in May announced that he believed Byrd needs to answer to the allegations publicly made against him last year, though Byrd still has not done so.

The governor confirmed late last month that he had since spoken with Byrd, but did not offer many details about the conversation.

When asked at the time whether Byrd had explained himself in a way that would allay Lee’s concerns about the women’s stories of sexual assault at the hands of a teacher, Lee said no.

“He did not,” Lee said while speaking to reporters June 24.

Byrd has declined to answer questions about the allegations — including for what he was apologizing in a phone call recorded by one of his accusers in 2018 — instead only issuing a statement last year that said he had done nothing wrong while in office.

He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014.

While House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-portland, suggested in recent weeks that a vote to expel Byrd during the upcoming Aug. 23 special session was not off the table if proper protocol was followed to allow for due process, no Republicans have publicly expressed interest yet in doing so when the body assembles next month.

Instead, Rep. Gloria Johnson, Dknoxville, has said she is filing a resolution to do so, confirming on Wednesday that the legislature’s legal department was working on a draft for her to submit.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@ tennessean.com.