Charlotte Burks
|
|
Charlotte Gentry Burks (b. October 3, 1942) is a farmer and Democratic party politician in Tennessee, USA. She became the first write-in candidate to win a seat in the Tennessee State Senate in 1998, taking the seat formerly held by her husband Tommy Burks, who had been assassinated during an election campaign by his Republican challenger Byron Looper. (The state Republican party had distanced itself from Looper, and numerous Republicans worked for Burks' campaign.)
She served as the secretary of the senate's education committee; and was a member of the joint study economic development; government operations; select on children and youth; and the environment, conservation, and tourism committees.
According to the Tennessee Conservation Voters' 2003 scorecard[1] (http://www.tnconservationvoters.org/TCV/legislature/scorecard.pdf/2003%20Leg.%20Scorecard.pdf), Burks was, along with Mae Beavers and Tommy Kilby the worst ranked environmental legislaters in the Tennessee General Assembly.