Memphis Sen. Reginald Tate: ‘I am the message’

State Sen. Reginald Tate, who is locked in a competitive Democratic primary in Memphis, opened his campaign headquarters over the weekend, touting his independence as a lawmakers.

“I’ve never sided with anybody. I don’t side. I was taught better,” the Memphis Daily News quoted Tate as saying. “I don’t approve the message. I am the message.”

Tate faces Katrina Robinson, a business owner and nurse in the Aug. 2 primary. A hot mic incident in which Tate vented to a Republican colleague about his frustration with Democrats questioning his party loyalty has been a major flashpoint of the campaign.

“I don’t like the lies. But I won’t take time out to respond to it. But I will tell you guys, there is not one time I sold anyone else out,” Tate told his supporters. “I work for $20,000 a year. It won’t pay my car note. I can’t take nothing under the table or on top of the table. I’m too tall to hide.”

The Daily News reported that when Robinson opened her headquarters last month, she said that she was working on educating voters about their representation in Nashville because that “a lot of people don’t pay attention to state politics.”

“Anybody who represents you, you should know who they are,” she said. “Sometimes it’s harder to get through to people that state politics is much more important.”

“All I can say is I’m a real Democrat and so now we know I’m the only Democrat in this race,” she told the paper. “And I’m going to fight to be in the position that is there for Democrats.”

Tate said he’s worked both sides of the aisle to get results for his home district.