Poll says Boyd has pulled ahead of Black in GOP gubernatorial primary
While Diane Black led other Republican candidates in a Tennessee Star poll some months ago, the arch-conservative online website reports a new survey this week shows Randy Boyd is now the frontrunner.
Five guber candidates support collecting sales tax from out-of-state retailer sales to TN customers; differ on how to use resulting revenue
Five candidates for governor – Republicans Randy Boyd, Beth Harwell and Bill Lee along with Democrats Karl Dean and Craig Fitzhugh – praised a U.S. Supreme Court decision last week that means Tennessee can now require out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases made by their Tennessee, reports the Times Free Press.
Their comments came at a gubernatorial candidate forum hosted by the newspaper Monday in Chattanooga. One major GOP candidate, Diane Black, was campaigning in Carter County Monday and did not participate.
In GOP debate, candidates for governor back Trump immigration policy, dispute Lee’s claim to be the ‘only outsider’
The leading Republican candidates for Tennessee governor tried not to second-guess President Donald Trump during a debate Wednesday night, including pledging support for his administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, according to the Associated Press report.
At the debate, House Speaker Beth Harwell, ex-state economic development commissioner Randy Boyd and businessman Bill Lee blamed congressional inaction for the migrant family separations that have sparked recent public outrage. The statements likely took aim at U.S. Rep. Diane Black, who instead took a stance similar to Trump by blaming Democrats. She said Democrats are not supporting construction of a border wall.
Guber candidates talk on electing AG, marijuana, Confederate statutes at TN Bar Association forum
Four gubernatorial candidates – Republicans Randy Boyd and Beth Harwell; Democrats Karl Dean and Craig Fitzhugh — told the annual convention of the Tennessee Bar Association Thursday that they favor keeping the Tennessee Attorney General a position appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court, reports the Memphis Daily News.
Boyd leads guber field in political ad purchases with $9M; Black at $7M
Four Republican candidates for governor have purchased $21 million in political advertising for their campaigns, reports The Tennessean. Two Democrats and a couple of PACs involved in the gubernatorial campaign have, combined, spent about $2 million on ads, for a $23 million statewide total.
That’s for ads already run and those purchased and scheduled to run in the campaign days ahead.
Black wants Memphis Megasite redo; other guber candidates would stay the project’s course
Diane Black has taken a strikingly different stance on developing the Memphis Regional Megasite in Haywood County notes the Jackson Sun in a Thursday article rounding up comments from other gubernatorial candidates on the subject. Black proposes to turn the megasite into an “agricultural hub” instead of continuing the so-far-unsuccessful effort to get a big new business located there.
Black outlined her proposal in an Commercial Appeal op-ed piece back in late April, declaring the project has been “a boondoggle from the beginning” and “thoroughly mismanaged by the bureaucrats in Nashville” – including, presumably, fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, who headed the Department of Economic and Community Development for a period of the megasite’s development.
GOP gubernatorial candidates showed at Trump rally; only Black got presidential mention
While President Trump’s Nashville rally was held to support Marsha Blackburn’s run for the U.S. Senate, four Republican gubernatorial candidates were on hand as well to show support for the president and look for votes, reports WKRN TV. U.S. Rep. Diane Black got a presidential mention.
TEA endorses Harwell for GOP gubernatorial nomination, Fitzhugh for Democratic nomination
Press release from Tennessee Education Association
The Tennessee Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education (TEA-FCPE) has endorsed Beth Harwell in the Republican Primary for Governor, and Craig Fitzhugh in the Democratic Primary for Governor. TEA-FCPE is the political action committee of TEA, the state’s largest professional association.
Another Black poll shows her leading Boyd in GOP gubernatorial primary (41 percent to 28 percent)
An internal polling memo leaked by U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s campaign shows her on top of GOP primary competitor Randy Boyd by 13 points, reports the Nashville Post, close to the results of an earlier Black-commissioned poll that was labeled “bogus” by Boyd’s campaign.
TSEA endorses Harwell for GOP gubernatorial nomination, Fitzhugh for Democratic nod
Press release from Tennessee State Employees Association
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Employees Action Movement (TEAM-PAC) the official PAC of TSEA, today voted to endorse Beth Harwell in the Republican Primary and Craig Fitzhugh in the Democratic Primary in the race for Governor in Tennessee. Continue reading
