NYT on Black’s failed effort to land Trump endorsement
U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-Gallatin) speaks at a Republican event in Nashville on May 7, 2018. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
In a look at President Donald Trump’s influence over the outcome of Republican primaries around the country, the New York Times’ Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman unearthed this nugget about U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s failed lobbying efforts in her bid for governor in Tennessee:
This year few Republican candidates, for example, were as aggressive in lobbying for Mr. Trump’s endorsement as Representative Diane Black of Tennessee, who came in third in her state’s primary for governor this month. She approached the president at a White House event, had some of his most high-profile congressional allies weigh in on her behalf, and even deployed some West Wing officials who are friendly to her.
But most of Mr. Trump’s aides wanted him to stay out of the race, and they were able to keep him sidelined in part by reminding him of what Ms. Black said after the video of Mr. Trump boasting about groping women was released in 2016 (“I would’ve yanked my son by the ear if he had talked that way when he was a teenager much less an adult,” she said at the time).
Black finished third in the GOP primary.
Meet the nicer, gentler (but still tough) Diane Black
Republican gubernatorial candidate Diane Black’s latest TV ad addresses the question about why she has been “so tough” in her campaign.
Popcorn in hand, Black says: “I figure, if I make tough choices as governor, maybe our grand-kids’ generation won’t have it so tough when they grow up.” She then hands said popcorn over to some kids playing dominoes and urges voters to “hang tough with me.”
Lee Beaman endorses Diane Black
Conservative auto dealer Lee Beaman is endorsing U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s Republican bid for governor.
“There is only one true conservative in the race and her name is Diane Black,” Beaman said in a release. “Diane will fight to protect and defend out Tennessee values. She will be an advocate for Tennessee businesses of all sizes, and she will always fight for families and the unborn. With Diane leading the way, we can become the most business friendly state in the nation while keeping our values intact.”
Black said cited Beaman’s role in fighting public transit proposals in Nashville as a sign that “when he gets behind something, everyone better move out of the way. He is a stalwart fighter for the conservative cause who never waivers in his conviction.”
Campaign finance records show Beaman gave Black’s campaign $8,000 on July 19.
Man indicted for making threats to Black
U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-Gallatin) speaks at a Republican event in Nashville on May 7, 2018. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
A federal grand jury in Chattanooga has indicted a man for making threats to U.S. Rep. Diane Black, a Republican candidate for governor.
The Associated Press reports that the indictment against Clifton Ward was filed on June 26. Black went on Fox News this week to discuss the matter, saying the man left her voicemails, saying that the arrest makes her family feel better.
The indictment says Ward threatened to assault and kill the congresswoman. News accounts say the threats came after she introduced a bill to allow crowdfunding to pay for a wall on the Mexican border.
New Black ad calls Boyd, Lee “good men, but they’re moderates’
Diane Black’s latest TV ad goes back to touting her accomplishments in Congress — and footage of President Donald Trump recognizing her at events. Opponents Bill Lee and Randy Boyd, the narrator says, “are good men, but they’re moderates — the kind of Republicans who help Democrats get elected.”
Black mailer depicts Lee with “Three Liberalteers”
A new mailer from Diane Black’s gubernatorial campaign picks up the theme that Republican rival Bill Lee once gave money to three Democrats: former Gov. Phil Bredesen and former Nashville Mayors Karl Dean and Megan Barry, who are labeled “The Three Liberalteers.” 
The mailer says Lee “bankrolls liberal Democrats.” What it doesn’t say is that Lee gave a combined $1,750 to Bredesen, Dean, and Barry. Hardly solely responsible for any of those bids afloat, but that doesn’t factor into the increasingly bitter Republican primary campaign.
So will this mailer change any minds?
Santorum endorses Black in governor’s race
Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santrorum (R-Pa.) has endorsed U.S. Rep. Diane Black for governor.
“With Diane Black in the Governor’s office, I am confident that the conservative values that make Tennessee great will be protected and preserved,” Santorum said in a release.
Santorum won the Republican presidential primary in Tennessee in 2012. (The 2008 winner was former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has endorsed Randy Boyd.)
Black hits Lee for giving to pro-choice candidate, but her husband did same
U.S. Rep. Diane Black’s latest attack ad on Republican gubernatorial rival Bill Lee criticizes him for giving a $1,750 to three Democrats: Phil Bredesen, Karl Dean, and former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, whom the ad labels an abortion supporter. Unmentioned is that Black’s husband, David, once gave $2,000 to a self-described pro-choice candidate.
David Black gave two $1,000 donations to former state Sen. Rosalind Kurita (D-Clarksville), who played a key role in then-Sen. Ron Ramsey’s 2007 election as the the state’s first Republican Senate speaker since Reconstruction.
Boyd’s latest attack ad portrays Black in swamp
Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd’s latest attack ad portrays Republican gubernatorial rival Diane Black as being part of the “D.C. Swamp” and the narrator refers to her as “D.C. Diane” five times in 30 seconds.
Transcript: “A 20-year professional politician, D.C. Diane Black. In the D.C. Swamp, D.C. Diane’s net worth increased by more than $40 million. While enriching herself, D.C. Diane worked to raise our taxes by $160 million, while cutting her taxes by millions. And as budget chair, D.C. Diane let the debt soar to $21 trillion. D.C. Diane Black: Out for herself, no us.”
New Lee spot targets ‘all these dishonest attack ads’
Franklin businessman Bill Lee has a new TV commercial out targeting negative ads running in the Republican gubernatorial primary campaign. Lee says he won’t “go down that road,” and that the attack ads “reveal a lot more truth about the person running the ad than the person in the ad.”
