U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) endorsed Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron in his campaign for re-election to the position.
Ketron is in a tight race against former Tennessee State Representative Joe Carr and current District 11 County Commissioner Rhonda Allen.
“Mayor Ketron and I worked together in President Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign when I served as Trump Tennessee Victory Chairman and Bill served as a delegate for President Trump to our national convention. I have a deep admiration for his strength and courage as he overcame cancer, and I’ve seen his effective conservative leadership as Mayor of Rutherford County. Mayor Ketron has my full endorsement,” Hagerty said in an emailed release
Notably, Hagerty opted to endorse Ketron despite his campaign finance controversies. Previously, State auditors found hundreds of thousands of dollars missing from multiple campaign accounts. In order to address the breaches, he paid $135,000 for the campaign law violations. Additionally, his daughter, Kelsey Ketron, served as campaign treasurer during a period when funds were unaccounted for.
The endorsement also follows recent polling that placed Ketron behind Joe Carr. According to a survey of Rutherford County residents, 31.7 percent would vote for Carr, compared to only 15.6 percent that would re-elect Mayor Ketron. An additional 11.3 percent support District 11 County Commissioner Allen.
An overwhelming number of respondents said it was important to restore ethical and lawful leadership to the county.
“I’ve worked with Senator Hagerty in many capacities over the years, and his support means so much to me as I seek to continue serving the good people of Rutherford County,” responded Mayor Ketron. “Bill is making us proud in the Senate, and together we will keep fighting for our conservative values and for the people we serve. I’m grateful to have his support.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Rutherford County Courthouse” by BrentandMariLynn. CC BY 2.0.
Joe Car is the true Tennessee conservative! Hagerty is a RINO! Hagerty please give us Tennesseans a stock pick! Hagerty invested 56,000 and sold 4,000,000 in stock as a senator representing Tennesseans! Hagerty please put you and your wife’s investments in a blind trust while you are in the senate. Why isn’t the Tennessee Gop party calling for the Tn congressional and senators to put their investments in a blind trust? Where is Scott Golden on this issue? Golden is the chair of the party! Joe Carr will defeat RINO Ketron!
Two peas from the same pod. I sure hope Carr, a real conservative Republican, prevails. When is Hagerty up for re-election? We need to send him packing after Alexander and Corker. Why do we elect these RINOs to start with?
These politicians make me want to puke! Haggerty and Ketron did about as much to support President Trump as a potato sack does for Dolly Parton! And, IF, they were such instrumental components in the 2016 winning election, where were they in 2020? Or should we just start blaming them for 2020 loss? This does however confirm what I always suspected, that Hagerty was just a younger version of Lamar! An establishment swamp dweller!
But am I missing something here? I thought that a Republican endorsing a Republican in the Republican primary was against the “rules”. Or does this just confirm something else that we all suspected? That there are Republicans and then there are RINOs!
Go Joe, Go!
Kevin, you and Joe Carr are among my very favorite people in the world, and I think Bill Haggerty’s endorsement of Ketron was an unforced error, as they say, but Hagerty (Heritage-94%), who I so wisely supported is not by any stretch of the imagination “. . .just a younger version of Lamar” (Heritage-50%) who I most certainly DID NOT.