NASHVILLE – Yet a second Republican candidate is dropping out of the last televised Tennessee Republican gubernatorial debate scheduled for July 22 in Knoxville.
State House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, has told debate organizers, Tennessee-based television station affiliates of Nexstar Media Group, that she doesn’t plan to attend the debate unless rival and Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd reverses his abrupt cancellation of plans to go to the four-person event.
“Speaker Harwell is committed to debating her opponents about the important issues facing Tennessee, but we believe that since it is the last debate before the Aug. 2 Republican Primary, the debate should be among all four candidates,” said Beth Fortune, a top Harwell adviser, in an email to the Times Free Press.
Fortune said “we let the organizers of the debate know of our position and asked them to keep us posted on further developments after learning that all candidates may not participate.”
But she also added that “if there is a debate that features all four candidates, Speaker Harwell will gladly participate.”