Vivian Jones
Vivian Jones is a state government and politics reporter for The Tennessean, focused on how decisions at the Capitol and inside key agencies shape law, elections and everyday governance.
Statehouse beat and Capitol vantage
Jones works the statehouse beat, covering legislative business from inside the House chamber press box and translating floor activity into clear accounts of what lawmakers are doing. She writes from the reporters’ gallery overlooking the chamber, describing the atmosphere, noise and pacing of sessions as she tracks debates and votes in real time. Her regular “Week In Politics” coverage sets out what lawmakers plan to tackle as each session begins, offering readers a concise rundown of bills, priorities and political dynamics on the hill. Her reporting on Governor Bill Lee’s repeated halts to executions examines how the Department of Correction follows protocol and how those decisions move through state government. Across these pieces, she treats the Capitol as both workplace and stage, showing how procedure, personalities and rules interact when Tennessee’s government is in session.
Elections, campaigns and voting rules
A significant part of Jones’s work breaks down Tennessee elections, with close attention to contests beyond the top-line headlines. She covers governor’s races as stories about who holds power and how gender and party dynamics are changing, including a historic contest that put women at the center of the race for the state’s top office.
Her election previews outline multiple statewide and down-ballot races alongside “hot button” issues, framing ballots as choices about policy as much as personality. She follows independent bids in the governor’s race and explains how those candidacies alter the field, vote splits and campaign strategies.
Jones also reports on changes to election law, such as proposals requiring voters to declare party affiliation to participate in primaries, spelling out how new rules would work at registration offices and at the polls. Earlier on the beat, she broke stories about potential campaign finance violations in the 2022 Tennessee District 5 congressional race involving now-U.S. Rep.
Andy Ogles, signaling a willingness to investigate how campaigns use and report money.
Accountability in agencies, contracts and child welfare
Jones extends her politics coverage into oversight of state agencies, focusing on how they manage funds, contracts and vulnerable populations.
In one recent investigation, she documented how Tennessee’s child welfare agency redirected federal survivor benefits that were intended for orphans in its care, scrutinizing what the state did with $38 million in payments and what that meant for the young people involved. She has previously investigated a $14 million no-bid COVID-19 monitoring contract for Nashville schools, asking why a major public-health expenditure bypassed competitive bidding and how it was overseen.
Her awards from the Tennessee Press Association for coverage of Nashville’s transportation entertainment industry reflect a track record of taking complex regulatory and business arrangements and turning them into accessible stories about governance and accountability. Coverage of executions and correctional protocols similarly shows her focus on how agencies follow - or fail to follow - rules when stakes are high for both the state and affected individuals.
Formats, pace and prior experience on the politics beat
Jones moves between formats: narrative statehouse dispatches, election explainers, weekly roundups and agency investigations, all anchored in her state government beat. Her “Week In Politics” pieces function as regular briefings on what readers should watch in the legislature, while her election and policy stories slow down complicated topics like multi-race ballots and closed primary proposals into straightforward, practical explanations.
On social platforms, she live-updates protests, expulsions, reinstatements and high-profile forums, providing minute-by-minute accounts as lawmakers and candidates move through dramatic moments at the Capitol. Before joining The Tennessean, she reported on local and state government for other outlets, worked as a legislative assistant in the Tennessee General Assembly, and held a communications director role in the nonprofit sector, experience that gives her fluency in procedure and messaging on the beat she now covers.
Taken together, her work offers a consistent lens: how Tennessee’s political institutions operate in practice, who is affected by their decisions, and where money, rules and power intersect.
4 more politics journalists.
A.D. Quig
A.D. Quig follows money and power through Chicago and Cook County government, showing how political decisions, taxes and public spending affect residents and businesses. At the Chicago Tribune, she covers city and county politics, municipal finance, tax policy, budgets and the structures shaping mayoral and council authority. She joined the Tribune in 2022 after covering politics for Crain’s Chicago Business and The Daily Line. Her work examines council power, ethics rules, police leadership, tax incentives, public agencies and pandemic aid. She has reported on data center tax breaks, property tax errors, federal relief spending and the fiscal effects of major development proposals. Quig combines insider government reporting with public accountability journalism. She uses public records, data and budget documents, follows committees and staff negotiations, and explains complex decisions in plain language with precise numbers and a direct link to everyday consequences.
Adam Daly
Adam Daly covers politics for amNewYork with a focus on the inner workings of city and state government and the low-profile forums where power is exercised and negotiated. He reports on commissions and panels that shape how New York is governed, treating charter reform and government efficiency as central political terrain. His coverage of moves to replace an Adams-era charter commission with a new government efficiency panel foregrounds mandate, authority, and what “efficiency” means in practice for agencies and services. He tracks who gains and loses influence when one commission supplants another and which constituencies are being answered to. Daly explains dense procedural questions in clear, reader-facing terms, using specific institutional details and occasional wordplay to connect jargon-heavy reforms to public spending, service delivery, and mayoral power.
Adam Pack
Adam Pack covers Capitol Hill through power struggles, investigations and ideological fights, focusing on how Congress intersects with Donald Trump’s agenda. He is a politics writer on Fox News Digital’s Capitol Hill team, covering Congress, federal elections, legislative battles, election rules, war powers, primaries and intraparty fights. He previously wrote for the Daily Caller News Foundation. His reporting examines deadlines, vote counts, bill language, campaign spending, court rulings, oversight reports, culture clashes and emerging issues such as AI-backed political groups. He has covered FISA reauthorization, defense spending, the SAVE America Act, housing policy, redistricting, candidate absences, primary spending and disputes over sex, gender, religion and race-based caucuses. He reports primarily through news features and investigative-style pieces built around documents, committee reports, court records, unearthed video and specific legislative details. He often co-writes complex Capitol Hill stories and publishes “FIRST ON FOX” exclusives.
Adam Sullivan
Adam Sullivan is a veteran politics reporter for WCAX who connects elections and party disputes to everyday life. He covers statewide races, party primaries, federal representation, political rhetoric, extremism, and accountability across the Upper Valley and neighboring states. His reporting includes Becca Balint’s victory over Molly Gray in the Democratic U.S. House primary to replace Congressman Peter Welch. He also reports when political controversies affect public safety, political culture, towns, and institutions, including a New Hampshire Libertarian Party post endorsing violence against elected Democrats. Sullivan follows cultural stories with civic consequences, such as Noah Kahan’s appeal to fans to stop stealing a Strafford road sign linked to his music. He writes straight news centered on concrete events, official reactions, political context, community impact, and what comes next.