Mike Kernell

Mike Kernell (born December 20, 1951, in Memphis, Tennessee) is a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1975-2012. Kernell is married with two children.

Kernell, a Democrat, was first elected to the 89th Tennessee General Assembly in 1974; he lives in Memphis and represented the 93rd district (a portion of Shelby County). He is Vice Chair of the Government Operations Committee and was a member of the Conservation and Environment Committee,the Parks and Tourism and Wildlife Subcommittee.

Kernell opposed 2004 cutbacks to TennCare, which he criticized for moving the burden of paying for medical care received by the uninsured to local taxpayers.

In October 2008, Kernell's son David was indicted by a Tennessee grand jury in connection with the unauthorized access of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo! Mail account. David Kernell entered a plea of not guilty, and Mike Kernell has denied knowing anything about the incident. David Kernell was convicted April 30, 2010 on two charges after four days of jury deliberation. He was found guilty of anticipatory obstruction of justice and unauthorized access to a computer, but was acquitted on a charge of wire fraud.

In the November 4, 2008 elections, Kernell defeated Republican candidate and former Homeland Security agent Tim Cook.

Cook was again the Republican nominee in 2010, and Kernell again defeated him, with 6,478 votes to Cook's 4,518.

Kernell's district was redrawn in 2012 by the Republican-controlled legislature, pitting him against fellow Democratic incumbent Goffrey Hardaway in the August 2012 Democratic primary. Kernell lost to Hardaway, ending his 38-year tenure.

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