American politician
Gino Bulso (born December 25, 1961) is an American politician, attorney, and state legislator in the state of Tennessee. A member of the Republican party, he represents the state's 61st district in the Tennessee House of Representatives.[1] Bulso has been a trial lawyer for 38 years, has tried more than 150 cases in Tennessee, and in state and federal courts across the country. He is the founder and managing partner of Bulso, PLC in Brentwood, Tennessee.[2]
Early life and education
Gino Bulso was born in Tampa, Florida on December 25, 1961, to Eugene and Virginia Bulso. He grew up in Tampa and attended Tampa Bay Technical Vocational High School (Tampa Bay Tech) and studied sheet metal. He graduated from Tampa Bay Tech in 1979.
Cornell College (IA) recruited Bulso out of high school to play tennis. He studied history and philosophy at Cornell, in addition to holding down the No. 1 singles position on the men's tennis team for several years. In May 1983, he became the first member of his family to receive a college degree, earning a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in History.
Bulso attended Emory University School of Law upon completing his undergraduate degree. He received a Juris Doctor degree in May 1986.[3]
Family
Bulso and Kathy (nee Bain) Bulso were married in 1986, immediately following his graduation from Emory Law School. They have five children. The family moved to Brentwood, Tennessee in 1995, and have lived there ever since.[4]
Legal career
Bulso has been a trial lawyer in Tennessee from 1986 to the present. He has tried over 150 cases recovering multi-million-dollar awards in both personal-injury and commercial actions. As a trial lawyer, he recovered a $146.5 million judgement in Nissan North America v. West Covina Nissan and also successfully defended all claims against all defendants in U.S. Securities Exchange Commission v. CapWealth Advisors.[5]
Bulso has been continuously listed in The Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation since 2008. He was named that list's Nashville Real-Estate Litigation “Lawyer of the Year” for 2014, 2020, and 2022. He has been recognized, both by the Nashville Business Journal's “Best of the Bar” for business litigation and as a Mid-South Super Lawyer, since 2007.[6]
Tennessee House of Representatives
Bulso was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives on November 8, 2022, and sworn in as a member of Tennessee's 113th General Assembly on January 10, 2023.
Bulso is a member of the Civil Justice Committee, the Civil Justice Subcommittee, the Education Administration Committee, the Education K-12 Subcommittee, the Government Operations Committee, and the Joint Judiciary and Government Committee.[7]
During 2023 Bulso sponsored several pieces of legislation that were enacted into law, including Pub Ch. 134[8](which authorizes the Speaker of the House and the Speaker of the Senate to retain counsel to vindicate Tennessee's rights under the 10th Amendment in federal court), Pub Ch. 285[9](which protects girls’ athletics in Tennessee by requiring that students participate in TSSAA-sanctioned athletic events in accordance with their biological sex), and Pub Ch. 486[10](which clarifies that Tennessee only recognizes only two sexes: male and female).
Bulso also co-sponsored HR65, the resolution to expel Rep. Justin Jones for disorderly behavior in violation of Art. II, Section 12 of the Tennessee Constitution. The resolution passed with a vote of 72–25.[11] Bulso also sponsored the resolution (HR64) to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson for disorderly behavior. That resolution, with a vote of 65-30, fell one vote short of the necessary 2/3 majority required to expel Rep. Johnson.[12] After the votes to expel, the Republican caucus met privately and discussed the failure of the resolution to expel Rep. Johnson. In recorded audio of the meeting that was later released to The Tennessee Holler, Representative Jody Barrett can be heard explaining that the reason he broke with his party on the vote to expel Rep. Johnson was due to Bulso's inability to prosecute the case. "I’m concerned that I’m going to vote yes on the resolution that I know is wrong. We didn’t establish that she did all that other stuff. All we established is she walked from there to there. As much as I hate to give John Ray [Clemmons] any credit for anything, it was the smartest thing he said the whole season I’ve been up here. Darren Jernigan in the back of the room says, 'We can’t vote on a resolution that’s poorly drafted,' and he’s right....These resolutions got copied and pasted. All they changed was the names. She didn’t do the things that were in the resolution."[13]
In 2024, Bulso sponsored HB1828, which sought to designate—among others--as official Tennessee state books “George Washington's Farewell Address to the American People” (1796), Alexis de Tocqueville's “Democracy in America,” (1835 and 1840), and the “Aitken Bible” (also known as the Bible of the American Revolution), “Journals of Congress” (1782). The bill passed with bi-partisan support 73-18 on February 22, 2024.[14]
In April 2024, Bulso was one of the two Representatives who opposed a bill to ban first-cousin marriages.
Electoral history
In 2018, Bulso finished second in a Republican primary field of six candidates to replace retired state representative Charles Sargeant in District 61. In 2022, Bulso defeated Bob Ravener in the Republican primary 61.5% (5,162) to 38.5% (3,238) and went on to win the general election in November by a margin of 65.9% (16,7330) to 34.1% (8,644).[15]
Personal life
Bulso is a competitive tennis player and during 2017 was ranked by the USTA as the No. 1 player in the State of Tennessee for the Men's 55's singles division.[16] Bullso is also a staunch supporter of first cousin marriage, his grandparents were first cousins and tried and failed to make an ammendment to the Tennessee legislature on April 11 2024.
References
