Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam are duking it out for tea party endorsements in the Aug. 5 Republican gubernatorial primary.
The conservative protest movement has proven key in several states' GOP primary victories.
"I am thrilled to be dubbed the best candidate to represent the values of the tea party movement for the state of Tennessee," said Lt. Gov. Ramsey, who recently released a list of nearly 50 tea party leaders he says support his bid.
They include Chattanooga Tea Party and Tennessee Tea Party Coalition member Gregg Juster; Mark Herr, a steering committee member of the Mid-South Tea Party and Tennessee Tea Party Coalition; Tea Party of Bradley County founder and President Donny Harwood; Memphis Tea Party Chairman Mark Skoda, a co-founder of the National Tea Party Federation; and American Patriot Taxpayers of East Tennessee co-founder Tony Shreeve, also a senior steering committee member of the Tennessee Tea Party Coalition.
Mr. Haslam released a list of nearly 20 tea party members he said back his bid.
"I'm grateful for the endorsements of these community leaders because I'm committed to conservative governing principles, and this group of individuals brings great energy to the campaign," Mr. Haslam said.
The Haslam list includes Cathy Farmer of the Madison County Tea Party, Williamson County Tea Party activist Mike Smiley and Grainger County Tea Party activist Bob Fearnside.
The third GOP gubernatorial candidate, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., has not released a list of his tea party backers.
Gobble tweet slams GOP chairman
A remark from Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele implying the war in Afghanistan is headed for failure prompted a critical Twitter response from Tim Gobble, a candidate for Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District seat.
On Friday, Mr. Gobble wrote that as a lifelong Republican, he is "disappointed the RNC chair has erroneously politicized the war and hurt all Republicans."
"We can do better," he added.
Twitter users can send messages of up to 140 characters to people who are their followers. The Times Free Press follows the tweets of political candidates.
Mr. Steele, recorded Thursday on video at a Connecticut GOP event, said the war in Afghanistan was of President Obama's "choosing." According to a report on the Los Angeles Times website, Mr. Steele asked why, as a student of history, the president hasn't understood "the one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan?"
On Friday, Mr. Steele said in a news release that he supports the decision to increase troop strength in Afghanistan.
"The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in Afghanistan," Mr. Steele said in the news release.
Eleven Republicans, four Democrats and six independents are vying in the 3rd District to replace U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., who is running for governor.
The primary election is Aug. 5.
Follow Tennessee and Georgia political news on Twitter at twitter.com/wlhenry..