NASHVILLE – U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., today praised former GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Gibbons as a “very tough” but “fair competitor” whose support and supporters the Chattanooga congressman hopes to win over to his own campaign.
The congressman said the Shelby County district attorney general, who announced earlier today he is dropping out of the race, “has been sincere and committed in his efforts to find real solutions to the real problems facing the people of our great state.”
“And like me, Bill has always had the guts, strength and conviction to stand up to the big money and the special interests and to just tell it like it is. So while Bill will be missed out on the campaign trail – his ideas and his leadership will continue.”
Mr. Gibbons told reporters that the inability to hit a campaign target of $2.5 million was forcing him to abandon his 14-month bid. He said he had hoped to have $1 million raised by the end of 2009 but fell far short, and a 60-day plan to remedy the situation went nowhere.
“We are simply not in a position finally to move forward, not in a position to run the kind of media campaign you need to run in the closing months of this campaign” during the summer months leading up to the Aug. 5 primary, he said.