The race to be Tennessee’s next governor narrowed last night. Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam beat out Chattanooga Congressman Zach Wamp and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey in the Republican primary. He’ll face Democrat Mike McWherter, who was the only candidate on that party’s ballot.
Throughout the campaign, Haslam’s Republican opponents questioned his conservative credentials, and called him a wealthy, out-of-touch businessman.
He says the experience has left him ready for whatever may come in the general election.
“We’ve been through a very competitive primary and I think that you know, you’re tempered for battle so to speak. And so I think that that’s a good thing and I think it’s an advantage that I have.”
The Democratic nominee can’t make the same claim. Not only was Mike McWherter the only contender in his primary, this is his first time running for any office. But McWherter says he’s been able to spend the last few months talking to voters about issues.
“Republicans spent millions of dollars trying to explain the inconsistancies of their records without talking to Tennesseans about what they need to do to move this state forward.”
Much of the money spent in the GOP primary was Haslam’s-over 7 million dollars this year alone. That’s almost twice the amount spent by the other two Republicans combined. Haslam is positioned to continue spending. According to his last financial disclosure, the Republican nominee has nearly 2 million dollars cash in hand. McWherter has just over one million.
With the nominations settled, the governor’s race is now a competition between two businessmen. The Jackson beer distributor (McWherter) and former Pilot Oil CEO (Haslam).
McWherter reminded supporters that he’s a small business owner, saying that puts him in a good position to address the state’s economic woes.
“You know, in business, you learn to focus and set priorities and I think it’s relatively simple. We can fix our economy here if we get people back to work and putting people to work is the job of small business.”
Across town, the Republican nominee also listed job creation as a top priority and referenced to his business experience. But Haslam says his current job as Knoxville’s Mayor gives him an advantage.
“The 20 years I spent in business was wonderful preparation for being mayor. I think it really helped me a lot in being an effective mayor. I also know this: the six and half years I’ve been mayor I think is great preparation for being governor.”
The two candidates have thirteen weeks to convince voters their qualifications are the right ones. The general election takes place November 2nd.
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