Well-known Nashville businessman and conservative stalwart Lee Beaman endorsed Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) for Governor on Monday.
“There is only one true conservative in the race and her name is Diane Black,” Beaman said in a statement.
“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,” he concluded.
Rep. Black responded, “I am delighted to have Lee on my team;” adding:
Lee is a man guided by his conservative beliefs who has worked hard for every success. From standing against the AMP and Metro Transit Plan, 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.
“Nobody in Tennessee has been a more consistent and dependable donor, leader and advocate for conservative causes,” Tennessee Star Political Editor Steve Gill said.
“From personally dropping off cases of bottled water to protesters at Legislative Plaza to providing funds for countless conservative candidates at the local, state and national level to being willing to stand up and speak out when others hide in the shadows, Lee Beaman has been there every time he’s been called to action. His endorsement does and should cause conservatives to pay attention,” Gill added.
With primary election day two days away, polls show Black in a very close and contentious three-way race for the Republican nomination for governor with Knoxville’s Randy Boyd and Franklin’s Bill Lee – both, like Beaman, successful businessmen. Tennessee Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) is the fourth candidate in the race.
“The early voting period for the August 2 Primary and Local General Elections ended Saturday with voter turnout continuing on a record pace across the state,” as The Tennessee Star reported on Sunday.
All four campaigns are spending the last few days of the race packing as many campaign appearances across the state into their schedules as possible.
I got to vote twice !! Once FOR Bill Lee, once AGAINST mizz black
“There is only one true conservative in the race and her name is Diane Black,” Beaman said in a statement.”
No, Mr. Beaman, there is NOT only one true conservative in the race for Tennessee Governor. And you should know better. I would think that you would know fellow Greater Metropolitan Nashville businessman, and Republican mega-donor, Bill Lee?
Contributing $25,200 to Haslam out of $33,900 made to all state candidates over the past 19 years doesn’t make Bill Lee a “mega-donor” and it certainly doesn’t identify him as a conservative. If you examine Lee’s political contributions you see his contributions to Republicans, like his contributions to Democrats, were made for business purposes rather than ideological purposes.
There is no surprise in any of this. Lee simply never has been particularly interested in politics before deciding that he would like to get politically involved with the top political job in the state. That understandably strikes a long-time committed, outspoken conservative like Bill Beaman as absurd as it strikes me. Having then to choose between centrist Randy! Boyd, tall-grass dwelling Beth Harwell, and long time tepid conservative Diane Black, as a conservative Lee decided Diane is the obvious choice. Of course she is!
That’s Bill Lee – candidate for Governor. Lee Beaman – long time committed, outspoken conservative. Sorry
Stuart, for months you have been repeating the mantra, ANYBODY BUT BOYD. But all along what you really were saying was, NOBODY BUT BLACK. I think that the people understand you well.
Nooooo. I assure you John nothing has changed! The game plan remains the same. I believe the top priority is the defeat of Randy! because he’s obviously the only admitted centrist in the race and it’s about time conservatives showed the centrist establishment that you can’t go around being an open, notorious centrist and win statewide in Tennessee and 16 years of Haslam is more than any conservative should have to endure. Diane Black has always been my favorite candidate, a little more so as the race has proceeded.
If we had runoffs I would absolutely vote for Diane. We don’t, so I will vote for whoever has the best chance of beating Boyd. That’s why I haven’t voted during the early voting period for the first time in memory. The problem is that as I write there aren’t any prestigious polls that are predicting this race outside the margin of error. So right now, the “ANYBODY” in ANYBODY BUT BOYD is less than clear, so I’m still in the mode of doing what I can to make the “ANYBODY” Diane as the best “ANYBODY” in the race.