Tag: 2018 Republican Gubernatorial primary

Diane Black, Jim Tracy Rumored to Want Jobs With Bill Lee’s Administration

Jason M. Reynolds

Governor-elect Bill Lee may have a couple of high-profile applicants for his upcoming administration. U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-07) and former State Sen. Jim Tracy (R-TN-14) are seeking jobs with Lee, The Tennessean reported. The newspaper cited “three people familiar with the efforts of Black and Tracy.” Some may find it ironic that Black, of Gallatin, wants to work for Lee as she ran against him in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Black called Lee a “moderate.” (She said the same of fellow competitor Randy Boyd.) Her ad said, “Bill Lee’s a moderate too. He pushed for a liberal Nashville Mayor who tried to make Nashville a sanctuary city.” Another ad said, “Bill Lee is the kind of Republican who helps Democrats get elected,” noting Lee’s previous campaign contributions to former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, The Tennessean said. The Lee Company sent a cease-and-desist letter to the gubernatorial campaign of Black in July, calling for the removal of information alleging the company wrongfully fired a veteran who once worked there, The Tennessee Star reported, citing a story in The Tennessee Journal’s On the Hill. Lee spokeswoman Laine Arnold said, the administration has received nearly 1,700 submissions for ideas and nearly 600 resumes. …

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Tennessee Democratic Spokesman Calls Evangelical Christians Racist

Jason M. Reynolds
Mark Brown

The Daily Caller is calling out Tennessee Democratic Party spokesman Mark Brown’s offensive language against Republicans, evangelical Christians who support President Donald Trump and even country music. Brown also serves as spokesman for Phil Bredesen’s U.S. Senate campaign. “Many of Brown’s most offensive tweets have been deleted but have been documented with screensaver captures,” David Krayden writes for the Daily Caller, and lists several instances. “On October 31, 2017, Brown, who is trying to get Democratic candidates elected in the Bible Belt, tweeted out an article from the LA Times entitled, ‘Under Trump, Evangelicals show their true racist colors.” Brown, who lives in the heart of the country music capital, also tweeted, “If forced to pick my favorite mainstream country act, I would gouge out my eardrums with a f—ing icepick.” Scott Golden, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman, said in a statement, “For him to attack people of faith for supporting the President is truly a new low. Such hateful vitriol is always a bad look, but Phil Bredesen and his followers continue to double down on their disdain for Tennesseans.” Brown has been cursing up a storm. Brown, who has been promoting Bredesen’s campaign in his role as a spokesman for the Tennessee Democratic…

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Conservative Chattanooga Editorial Page Endorses Bill Lee in Republican Gubernatorial Primary

Jason M. Reynolds

The conservative Free Press editorial page of The Chattanooga Times Free Press endorsed Bill Lee in the Republican gubernatorial race on Friday, the first day of early voting. Clint Cooper, the Free Press page editor, said Tennessee Republicans have an “embarrassment of riches” in their primary, with four of six candidates being both competitive and conservative with “diverse backgrounds and unique strengths.” Cooper cites Lee’s background as a business owner and farmer and having an outsider’s perspective on politics. “We also appreciate that he has chosen not to be involved in what seems like daily negative campaign exchanges between perceived front-runners Randy Boyd, a Knoxville businessman whose ideas we also very much admire, and U.S. Rep. Diane Black,” Cooper said. He continued, “Although recent independent polls on the campaign have been few, the man who terms himself the ‘conservative outsider’ appears to have momentum in the race. We hope that will allow voters who originally considered Boyd or Black to take a look at the seventh-generation Tennessean.” Lee announced the endorsement in a press release on Friday. The Chattanooga Times Free Press publishes the liberal Times and conservative Free Press editorial pages, a tribute to the city’s journalism heritage when…

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Randy Boyd Calls Diane Black ‘D.C. Diane’ And Questions Her Record On Immigration In Flyer, Website

Jason M. Reynolds
anto-Black mailer

Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd fired a salvo this week at opponent Diane Black by calling her “D.C. Diane” and questioning her past stances on immigration as a congresswoman and former state senator. Boyd’s campaign mailed a flyer which said, in part, “The Real D.C. Diane Black: A typical 20-year career politician who says one thing in Tennessee, but does another in D.C.” The flyer said: “D.C. Diane mocked President Trump’s border wall. In an interview with liberal reporter Katie Couric, D.C. Diane Black openly mocked and laughed at President Trump’s plan to build a border wall saying: ‘First of all, you can’t build a wall. That won’t work. It can’t be done.’ “Voted against funding for border security. D.C. Diane voted against a bill that provided $1.6 billion to fund the border wall, even though most Republicans and President Trump supported it. “Voted to give Tennessee drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. Diane Black voted for a bill at the urging of Democrat Governor Phil Bredesen to give drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. “Voted to give Obama a blank check for his amnesty. The conservative Heritage Foundation slammed a bill D.C. Diane supported that funded Obama’s executive amnesty for illegal…

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Mae Beavers and Bill Lee Offer Different Visions of Tennessee’s Future and the Governor’s Job at Williamson County BBQ

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) and Williamson County businessman Bill Lee offered two different visions of the future of Tennessee and the role of the job they are both seeking–governor-at the annual Williamson County Republican Party BBQ held in Thompson’s Station on Saturday. Each candidate spoke to the record crowd of 400 in attendance for about ten minutes, delivering the current version of their respective campaign stump speeches. Beavers, who has served in the Tennessee General Assembly since 1994, first in the House of Representatives and now in the State Senate, focused on enacting an agenda of conservative policies. She favors repealing the recent gas tax increase, promoting Second Amendment rights by pledging to sign a constitutional carry law, opposes in-state tuition for illegal aliens, and stands by her proposal to limit access to public bathrooms by gender. Bill Lee focused more on his personal qualities of leadership as opposed to a specific set of commitments to enact conservative policies. Lee emphasized his personal story, including the tragic death of his first wife, his role building up Lee Company, one of the premiere heating and cooling companies in the state, and his personal Christian faith. The Williamson County…

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Diane Black To Hold Major Campaign Fundraiser in Washington, D.C. for Re-Election to Congress, Not Gubernatorial Run

Tennessee Star Staff

Rep. Diane Black is holding a major campaign fundraiser at a high end restaurant in Washington, D.C. on Thursday night. But the event is to raise money for her re-election campaign to Congress, not her long rumored but yet-to-be announced gubernatorial campaign. Thursday night’s fundraiser will be held at Ocean Prime, one of the premiere eating establishments on Capitol Hill. The menu, which features a Ribeye Steak for $52 and Dutch Harbor King Crab Legs for $65, is well suited to Washington lobbyists, but a far cry from the Cracker Barrels that dot the I-40 corridor of the Sixth Congressional District Black represents in Tennessee. The news of Black’s Congressional fundraiser has veteran political tea leaf readers across the state of Tennessee scratching their heads. Does Black intend to run for governor, or will she drop that effort, where she will face stiff competition from three announced candidates–Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd, Williamson County businessman Bill Lee, and State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet)–and opt for the safe route of an easy re-election in 2018 to represent Tennessee’s Sixth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives? “Her chairmanship will undoubtedly boost her haul from the fundraiser,” a Capitol Hill insider…

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