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William Lamberth

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William Lamberth
Majority Leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2019
Preceded byGlen Casada
Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives
from the 44th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 8, 2013
Preceded byMike McDonald
Personal details
Born
William Gary Lamberth

(1977-12-05) December 5, 1977 (age 47)
Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLauren Lamberth
Children2
EducationUniversity of Tennessee (BA)
College of William and Mary (JD)

William Gary Lamberth (born December 5, 1977) is an American politician.[1][2][3][4] He serves as a Republican member of the Tennessee House of Representatives for the forty-fourth district, encompassing parts of Sumner County, Tennessee.[1][2][4]

Biography

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Early life

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He was born on December 5, 1977, in Bowling Green, Kentucky.[1] He is a fifth generation resident of Sumner County, Tennessee, and grew up on a farm in Tennessee.[2][self-published source][4] He attended Portland High School.[1][2] He graduated from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 2001 and received a J.D. from the William & Mary School of Law in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2004, where he was elected President of the Student Bar Association.[1][2][self-published source]

Career

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He was an Assistant District Attorney for Sumner County.[3][4] He now practices law as a private attorney in Gallatin, Tennessee.[1][3]

He was elected as state representative for the forty-fourth district Tennessee in 2012, replacing Democratic representative Mike McDonald.[1][2][3]

He is former president of the Rotary Club of Gallatin, Tennessee, and the Sumner County Bar Association, and former treasurer of the Republican Party of Sumner County.[1][2][self-published source] He is also Chairman of the Portland Community Education Foundation, table host and donor to the Cumberland Crisis Pregnancy Center in Gallatin.[1][2][self-published source] He also donates to the Middle Tennessee Mission Outreach and regularly goes on Christian missions to Honduras and other regions of the world that are in need of humanitarian relief efforts.[1][2][self-published source]

In 2023, Lamberth supported a resolution to expel three Democratic lawmakers from the legislature for violating decorum rules. The expulsion was widely characterized as unprecedented.[5]


Political positions

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Marijuana

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William Lamberth has an "F" rating from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) for his voting history regarding cannabis-related causes.[6]

In 2022, after accepting over $50,000 in campaign donations from Jack Daniel's and other alcohol suppliers, multiple detention facility operators and various pharmaceutical companies,[7] Lamberth embarked on a effort[8] to ban all forms of cannabis in Tennessee containing greater than .3% THC.[9] This effort to ban came in spite of overwhelming public support of cannabis legalization,[10] federal legality of non-delta 9 THC[11] and a clear position from the FDA and USDA [11] that delta 8 THC is not a controlled substance.[12]

LGBTQ rights

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Lamberth has been criticized by the LGBT community for supporting bills to criminalize doctors performing gender reassignment surgery on minors,[13] requiring transgender people to use public restrooms corresponding to their biological sex,[14] and requiring transgender athletes in high school to compete in collegiate sports that correspond to their biological sex.[15]

Education

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In 2025, Lamberth sponsored legislation that aims to challenge the 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case, Plyler v. Doe, which established the right to an education for all students, regardless of immigration status. Lamberth cited the cost of educating undocumented students in his proposal. The bill would authorize school districts to refuse to enroll students who are illegally present or unable to prove legal residence in the United States, or charge them tuition. Lamberth has stated that he believes Plyler v. Doe was wrongly decided and that the current Supreme Court would be likely to reverse the ruling.[16][17]

Personal life

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He is married to Lauren Schmidt Lamberth, and has two children.[self-published source][4] He is a Baptist.[1][2][self-published source] He lives in Cottontown, Tennessee, with his family.[1][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Tennessee General Assembly
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Campaign website
  3. ^ a b c d e William Lamberth's victory restores TN District 44 seat to GOP, The Tennessean, November 06, 2012
  4. ^ a b c d e Lamberth '04 Elected to Tennessee State House, William & Mary Law School, November 07, 2012
  5. ^ Andone, Dakin; Young, Ryan; Simonson, Amy; Almasy, Steve. "Tennessee's Republican-led House expels 2 Democratic lawmakers over gun reform protest, fails in bid to oust a third". CNN. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  6. ^ https://vote.norml.org/politicians/138679
  7. ^ Entity Details LAMBERTH, WILLIAM G Individual. "Lamberth, William G". FollowTheMoney.org. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
  8. ^ "Tennessee lawmakers debate making most Delta-8 THC illegal in the state". 24 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Tennessee General Assembly Legislation".
  10. ^ "Power Poll: About 88% of people surveyed support legalizing marijuana in some form across Tennessee". 19 September 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Farm Bill".
  12. ^ "Is D8 from Hemp a Controlled Substance? DEA Says "No". | Kight on Cannabis".
  13. ^ Gainey, Blaise (2023-01-31). "Republicans advance bills targeting transgender treatments and drag shows at contentious first hearings". wpln.org. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  14. ^ ""Bathroom bill" to take effect with LGBTQ community cautiously monitoring". News Channel 5 Nashville (WTVF). 2019-06-28. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  15. ^ "Tennessee General Assembly Legislation". wapp.capitol.tn.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  16. ^ Bacallao, Marianna (March 31, 2025). "Tennessee advances a challenge to education rights for immigrant students, despite mounting opposition". WPLN. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  17. ^ Wadhwani, Anita (March 26, 2025). "GOP bill allowing Tennessee schools to deny an education to immigrant children advances". Tennessee Lookout. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
Tennessee House of Representatives
Preceded by Majority Leader of the Tennessee House of Representatives
2019–present 		Incumbent
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