Lee names senior staff positions
Gov.-elect Bill Lee is formally naming his first three Cabinet appointments (one new one and two holdovers from the Haslam administration), and is also announcing six senior staff positions, including Lang Wiseman as his deputy and legal counsel.
Here’s the full release:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, Tennessee Governor-elect Bill Lee announced his first cabinet appointments as well as several key appointments to his forthcoming gubernatorial staff.
“We have received a tremendous amount of interest from Tennesseans across the state who are interested in serving our administration,” said Lee. “I am proud to announce these first members of my cabinet and staff. They are highly qualified to lead in their respective areas and will be an important part in helping our state continue to grow.”
Lee to retain Haslam’s commissioners for human services, mental health
Gov.-elect Bill Lee plans to retain two commissioners from fellow Republican Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration, The Tennessean reports. They are Danielle Barnes, the commissioner of the Department of Human Services, and Marie Williams, who heads the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Other current commissioners are are also expected to be held over for in the Cabinet of the new Lee administration.
As The Tennessee Journal reported earlier this week, Lee plans to name Stuart McWhorter as commissioner of the state Department of Finance and Administration. McWhorter was Lee’s finance chairman during the governor’s race and is currently the chairman of his inauguration planning efforts.
Lee plans to have most of his Cabinet named by the time he is sworn in as governor on Jan. 19.
Source: Lee to name McWhorter as finance commissioner
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee speaks at a rally in Franklin on Oct. 17, 2018. (Erik Schelzig, Tennessee Journal)
Republican Gov.-elect Bill Lee plans to name Stuart McWhorter as commissioner of the state Department of Finance and Administration, The Tennessee Journal has learned. The official announcement is expected later this week, according to a source close to the Lee transition team.
The finance commissioner traditionally serves as the governor’s chief Cabinet officer.
McWhorter was Lee’s finance chairman during the governor’s race and is currently the chairman of his inauguration planning efforts. He is the chairman and president of Clayton Associates, and investment management company focused on the health care and technology industries. He has also served on the board of directors of the Lee Co. (the plumbing and HVAC company owned by the governor-elect), FirstBank of Tennessee, 247 Sports Media, Haven Behavioral Healthcare, MedEquities Healthcare REIT, JumpStart Foundry, and the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.
McWhorter has taught about health care and entrepreneurship as an adjust professor at Belmont University. He earned his master’s in health administration from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and a bachelor’s degree in management from Clemson University.
McWhorter’s father, R. Clayton McWhorter, was a longtime executive with HCA who rose to the level of CEO before co-founding HealthTrust Inc. in 1987. That company merged with HCA in 1995 and he founded Clayton Associates the following year. The elder McWhorter died in 2016.
Stuart McWhorter briefly considered running for Nashville mayor in 2015 before deciding against a bid.
