Two high-ranking East Tennessee GOP political figures, who both began their careers in 1978, were honored at retirement celebrations by hundreds of supporters, other politicians, close friends and family members within two days of each other.
Gov. Bill Lee was among those who praised the service of his fellow Republican, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally of Oak Ridge, at a dinner Aug. 18 at the Oak Ridge Conference Center.
Mark Ezell, Lee’s commissioner of tourist development, praised the impact of Sevier County Larry Waters at a celebration Aug. 20 at the Rex Henry Ogle Courts Building in Sevierville.
Security was tight at both places due to the nature of the facilities as well as the crowds who attended. College scholarships honoring the two public officials
were announced. The Sevier County Government Complex eventually will be named for Waters though there is just a schematic for a sign at the moment.
McNally was 34 when first elected to the state House of Representatives, where he eventually made a name for himself for wearing a wire tap for three years to help law enforcement with one of the biggest corruption scandals in the legislature’s history. It became known as Operation Rocky Top, and dozens of people were convicted.
Then he was elected to the State Senate, in a district that today encompasses all of Anderson and Loudon counties and a portion of Knox. He was elevated to Senate Speaker, and thus lieutenant governor, in 2017 upon the retirement of Ron Ramsey of Blountville, who was among the roasters at the dinner.
McNally was a pharmacist a Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge during his career. His wife, Jan, was a president and chief administrative officer at the center as well as having executive positions with other health care agencies.
The roasters had a little fun with McNally over his driving and technology-challenged skills. He’s had drivers during his time as lieutenant governor and the suggestion was he’s going to have to learn to drive again. And then once he’s driving, he’s going to have to figure out how to get to where he’s going using Apple maps. He took it in stride, rising from his seat on a platform and shaking hands or hugging speakers.
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, was among the roasters and provided insight into McNally’s career choice at the University of Tennessee medical program in Memphis. Burchett said McNally became a pharmacist because he partied too much in med school. Some groaning was heard in the room.
Burchett also turned serious and gave McNally a copy of comments spread on the Congressional Record about his career and a U.S. flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol.
Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch set the serious tone of the occasion by referencing Oak Ridge’s history as a community built to answer the nation’s call – a reference to the achievements of the Manhattan Project during World War II. He said the spirit continues with the Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campus, not a reinvention but a recognition that the qualities that made the community indispensable “still matter in America.”
Gooch said McNally understood the importance of Oak Ridge, “and his leadership has been indispensable in where we stand today,” with the best years still ahead.
Former state Sen. Jamie Woodson of Knoxville made some personal remarks as emcee during her time on the platform. She said she first met McNally 35 years ago as a college Republican at the University of Tennessee and he already was in the Senate.
When she was elected to her first session in the Senate, she was appointed to serve as chair of the Education Committee.
“At a moment, when I was finding my footing as a new leader, Randy chose to open doors, to share what he knew, and to make room for me and many others. During my 13 years of legislative serve and the years since, I have experienced his master class in leadership, service and in growing leaders. That is the kind of leader and man Randy is. Through all of his many and important moments as a leader – Randy has remained remarkably and authentically himself," she said.
The ticketed event was meant to be a fundraiser as well. After expenses of the evening are paid, remaining proceeds will be donated to Roane State Community College. Guests were encouraged to donate to a permanent endowment at Roane State Foundation that honors both McNally and his wife, Jan. Learn more at roanestate.edu/mcnally.
Scott K. Niermann, executive director of the Roane State Foundation, told this columnist the McNallys served as honorary co-chairs for the college’s recent Thrive Campaign, which helped build, furnish and equip a new three-story facility for a health science program at 9575 Sherrill Blvd. in Knoxville. Every $25,000 in the McNally fund ensures one scholarship for students interested in Roane State health science disciplines across the region, he said.
Former state Rep. Jimmy Matlock of Lenoir City, the Republican nominee to succeed McNally, attended the event. He is opposed by Democrat David Miller of Oak Ridge in the Nov. 3 general election.
Waters was 23 when first elected to the county’s top executive position. He was remembered for much of what has happened in Sevier County government over 48 years but more than one speaker cited his leadership during the fires in November 2016 that started in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and spread to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Wears Valley. Fourteen people perished.
Waters also took leadership in helping to keep the park open during a federal government shutdown in 2025 through a partnership with local, county and state governments and other agencies.
“His plan kept the park open when other parks were not,” Ezell said.
Gary Wade, a former Sevierville mayor and chief justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, said one of the enduring qualities of Waters was his patience. But David A. Ogle, a longtime fried of Waters and president of the board of Partners in Progress, an education association, laughingly said he thought maybe Waters’ length of time in making decisions was more a “procrastination.”
The scholarship established by Partners in Progress for Waters will be for a Sevier County student to attend the business program at the Sevierville campus of East Tennessee State University.
Waters will be succeeded on Sept. 1 by Bryan McCarter, Sevier County vice mayor since 2017, who was emcee at the event. Among those at the event was Waters’ 93-year-old mother, Barbara Bradshaw.
∎ OTHER POLITICAL NEWS: White House lawyer Samuel Adkisson, who once lived in Signal Mountain near Chattanooga, has been named by President Donald Trump to fill a vacancy in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville. The opening is being created by Judge Thomas Varlan, who is set to take senior status on Oct. 5.
Adkisson is associate counsel to the president in the White House Counsel’s Office. He has clerked for U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts and Judge Amul Thapar on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Gregory Katsas on the D.C. Circuit. He also worked on the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh when on the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee headed by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
His biography says he received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was president of the Yale Law School Federalist Society and an editor of the Yale Law Journal. He graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University. Prior to joining the Trump Administration in January 2025, he lived on Signal Mountain with his wife and three children.
∎ GOP FUNDRAISER: Scott Jennings, well-known conservative political strategist, will speak at Knox County Republican Party’s Reagan Day Gala on Aug. 28 at Bridgewater Place, 205 Ridgewater Road. Jennings has emerged as a possible replacement for Karoline Levitt as Trump’s press secretary when she leaves Aug. 31.
For more information, contact Lauren Vassallo at lrn_vassallo@yahoo.com.
Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Two towering East Tennessee Republicans bid farewell to their offices
