Dean in new ad calls Lee’s positions ‘extreme’

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean has a new ad out that labels Republican Bill Lee’s views as ‘extreme’ on guns, vouchers, and Medicaid expansion.

Here’s the release from the Dean campaign:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean will start airing a TV ad Saturday comparing his common-sense vision of a compassionate, forward-looking Tennessee with opponent Bill Lee’s extreme, ideological policies.
Titled “Would You Want,” the ad helps voters understand the stark choice they face in the Nov. 6 election for governor, with early voting now underway through Nov. 1.
“Would you want a governor who would give public school funds to private schools? Or arm teachers and allow guns in classrooms? Or deny healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Tennesseans and let our tax dollars fund healthcare in other states?” Dean says, speaking directly to the camera throughout the 30-second spot.
“I’m Karl Dean, and that’s the choice in this election. Bill Lee believes all of that; I don’t. I’m not the flashiest guy running, but we don’t need an extreme governor who would take us backward. Let’s keep Tennessee moving forward.”

Dean, who was mayor of Nashville from 2007 to 2015, is opposed to school vouchers, which would drain money from public schools, and arming teachers, which would make children less safe. Dean supports Medicaid expansion, which would provide health coverage to some 300,000 Tennesseans by bringing home the $3.8 million a day that Tennessee taxpayers are now sending to the federal government in Washington, D.C., to subsidize coverage in 34 other states.
Lee, meanwhile, has focused on fixing healthcare over the next 15 to 20 years rather than helping Tennesseans who are hurting right now. Failing to expand Medicaid would put rural hospitals at continued risk of closing down and add to the already significant strains on healthcare delivery, especially in rural communities, where, in recent years, 11 hospitals have either merged with other hospitals, dramatically reduced services or closed altogether.
Dean has highlighted these differences with Lee in three debates this month and in speeches to hundreds of groups across the state. Dean also has pointed out his advantage in experience after leading the city of Nashville and its nonpartisan government, which has a $2 billion budget and approximately 10,000 employees, through the worst economic downturn in 75 years and a historic flood.
Karl Dean for Governor plans to air “Would You Want” widely through Election Day.