The race for District 22 state Senate in Montgomery, Houston and Stewart counties dipped into accusations over social media comments on Tuesday, ahead of the April 23 special Senate election.

The campaign salvo came from Tennessee Democrats, in support of their 22nd District nominee, Juanita Charles, when they accused Republican nominee Bill Powers Tuesday of making social media comments criticizing the LGBT and Muslim communities.

But Powers denied making those comments when asked about it by The Leaf-Chronicle.

"I did not post that," Powers said. He declined to comment further.

The comments came during a March 6 discussion thread on the Vote Bill Powers Facebook page, under the heading "Here's What I Believe."

A user asked where Powers stands on "the LGBT agenda, the culture war" and other issues.

Vote Bill Powers responds, "I'm a constitutional conservative. Support the president and nothing is more important than faith family and country."

The conversation to that point still appeared Tuesday evening on the Vote Bill Powers Facebook page. But the following two posts, shared with The Leaf-Chronicle, have since been deleted.

The user responded, "I agree with all that, but how do you define family? I will not vote for someone who is willing to make any concessions to the LGBT movement. None whatsoever. It is demonic. What about faith? Does that include accommodating and making concessions to Muslims? Faith is a broad term to some people. I think the Muslims want to change America, and I'm opposed to their agenda. What say you?"

Vote Bill Powers responds, "I agree with everything you said."

Powers told The Leaf-Chronicle Tuesday that he was not responsible for any Facebook comment about the matter that appeared to be under his name. But he declined to answer questions about his stance on LGBT rights or Muslim communities.

The Vote Bill Powers site is registered with Powers' campaign manager, Savanna Jacoby.

When asked about the comments, Jacoby responded, "Bill is not going to engage in divisive politics. His position on faith and family are perfectly clear."

Tennessee Democrats issued a statement about the matter, through TNDP Communications Director Trevon Sylvester.

"If you are running for office, you owe it your community and your future constituents to embrace the concerns and sentiments of every Tennessean, without exception," Sylvester wrote.

"As a legislator, your job is not to cast moral judgement on constituents, but to stand up for them. Bill Powers is just another cynical politician trying to capitalize by dividing us against one another."

Reach reporter Jimmy Settle at jimmysettle@theleafchronicle.com or 931-245-0247. Reach Chris Smith at chrissmith@theleafchronicle.com or 931-245-0282.