NASHVILLE - Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam is accusing Republican gubernatorial rival Zach Wamp of trying to mislead voters in a new attack ad that labels Mr. Haslam a "billionaire oil man who price-gouged working Tennesseans."
"There's actually nothing new there," said the mayor, whose family-owned Pilot Corp. last year settled a gas-gouging case with the state attorney general's office without admitting wrongdoing. "It's just kind of politics at its worst, throwing out stuff that's not true."
The ad, narrated by Chattanooga businessman Rusty Criminger, began running Friday as early voting in the Aug. 5 primary began. The latest public poll shows Mr. Haslam leading both U.S. Rep. Wamp, who is from Chattanooga, and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville.
But a large percentage of voters - as many as 36 percent - remain undecided.
The ad takes a roundhouse swing at Mr. Haslam, who along with his immediate family owns Pilot Corp. and Pilot Travel Centers LLC, a national chain of interstate truck stops.
There's nothing wrong with the ad, the congressman countered on Saturday, telling reporters at a Murfreesboro Republican event that it represents "the Tennessee way of telling the truth." The ad, he said, "makes statements that may be painful, but it's true ... I think it's done with a tremendous amount of class."
Knoxville-based Pilot Corp. was one of 16 companies and individuals that settled with the Tennessee attorney general in April 2009 following an investigation into fuel prices that ranged between $4.69 and $5.98 per gallon during Hurricane Ike in 2008.
Fuel prices peaked at Pilot stations in Knoxville at $4.99 a gallon. Mr. Haslam had been president of Pilot until he was elected Knoxville mayor in 2003. But he maintains an unspecified stake in the company. He also refuses to release his federal income tax returns, state his annual income from Pilot or reveal publicly what his net worth is.
In the April 16, 2009, gas-gouging news release issued by Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper, it was noted that "all the defendants who settled deny any wrongdoing and assert they settled to avoid the time and expense associated with litigation."
Mr. Haslam, who like the congressman attended a Murfreesboro Republican event Saturday, said Pilot's "situation is grossly mischaracterized" in the Wamp ad.
"I mean, this was a case where out of 1,500 different loads (of fuel) that were delivered or looked at, there was a timing error found with four of those," Mr. Haslam said. "Here's the truth and Zach knows this. We've been in business for 52 years and been based on an idea of low prices and being a community citizen. We care way too much to in any way abuse our customers."
He said that during the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, as many gas stations sold out of fuel, Pilot remained the "only place open" in some situations. The company sent trucks as far as Indiana to pick up fuel, he said.
Mr. Haslam gave his view of how the allegations came about.
"You don't raise the price of the fuel in the ground until it (existing fuel) is sold. In those four cases a mistake was made and it was a timing error only because the product was brought in from Indiana."
He said once the problem became known customers "were promptly refunded and there's a new program in place that won't let that happen."
The mayor also disputed that he is an "oil man." Asked how he would describe Pilot's business, Mr. Haslam said, "we're a retailer. We're the largest Tennessee-based restaurant company. We sell everything from Fritos to Diet Cokes to a lot of diesel fuel and gasoline."
Scoffed the congressman: "They make hundreds of millions of dollars off the oil business and the oil industry. And they're now one of the wealthiest families in America and they're in the oil business."
He also said Pilot is in the lottery, beer and cigarette "business."
The third GOP candidate, Lt. Gov. Ramsey, also has been critical Mr. Haslam and Pilot but not to the extent Rep. Wamp has.
Asked how he knows Mr. Haslam personally is worth at least $1 billion, Rep. Wamp said, "well, the family has a billion dollars. It's a boatload. It's just unlimited."
"They can spend $50 million on this campaign and not miss a meal," Rep. Wamp said. "I don't want the Halsams to buy this election."
When asked whether he is a billionaire, Mr. Haslam said, "Tell him (Wamp) I appreciate that. But he's off."
As for how much, the mayor said, "a lot" but refused to be specific, calling Mr. Wamp's assertions "an example of not telling the truth."
Rep. Wamp said the mayor, his father Jim Haslam II and older brother Jim Haslam III are collectively worth $1 billion.
The Federal Trade Commission recently approved a merger between Pilot and Flying J, another truck center chain. Pilot says it now one of the top 10 largest privately held companies in the U.S.
The Metro Pulse, a Knoxville weekly, reported that last year Forbes magazine ranked Flying J and Pilot respectively as No. 13 and No. 14 on its list of the country's largest private companies. Flying J, which was in bankruptcy, had revenues of $18 billion while Pilot had revenues of $17.3 billion.
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