Republican Bill Haslam coasted to victory Tuesday to become Tennessee’s next governor, easily defeating Democrat Mike McWherter by what could be the largest electoral margin for an open gubernatorial seat in the Volunteer State in decades.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial returns showed Knoxville Mayor Haslam, 52, beating McWherter, a Jackson beer distributor, by 65 percent to 33 percent.
If Haslam’s margins hold up, he would have the largest margin of victory for an open Tennessee governor’s seat in more than 40 years. It would approach the margins that Republican Gov. Don Sundquist had in his 1998 re-election bid over Democrat John Jay Hooker, who spent very little money campaigning.
“It’s been a long, hard campaign,” Haslam told cheering supporters at a celebration at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Knoxville.
“I promise you this,” Haslam said, “whether you voted for us or not, I will work hard for all Tennesseans.”
Noting the campaign experience, he said he will be a “better governor for the primary and the general election campaign we’ve been through.”
Haslam said he plans to begin meeting with Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen today on the transition.
At a subdued gathering of supporters in Jackson, McWherter, 57, congratulated Haslam “for a very hard-fought campaign.”
He said Haslam has been a “good mayor” for Knoxville.
“I offer him my sincerest best wishes that he has a good administration for Tennessee because if he does well, the state will progress,” he said.
Haslam will succeed Bredesen, a Democrat who was term-limited. When he is inaugurated in January, Haslam will become the state’s 49th governor.
Haslam dominated spending and television advertising over the course of his 22-month campaign, including a hard-fought GOP primary against U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, the state Senate speaker. Through Oct. 23, his spending hit the $16 million mark, with $3.49 million coming out of his personal fortune. McWherter, meanwhile, only spent about $2.7 million, lending his campaign $1.5 million.
The candidates’ combined spending of $18.7 million as of Oct. 23 may be on course to become the most expensive governor’s race in Tennessee history. Bredesen’s 2002 contest with Republican Van Hilleary hit $18.9 million in their final filings.
Multimillionaire Haslam and his family members own a majority stake in Pilot Flying J, the nation’s largest national chain of truck stops. The family long been has prominent in Republican fundraising circles, and Haslam set out early to gain control in the first open governor’s race in eight years. Haslam and his campaign hired a top state GOP fundraiser, raised huge sums and left his primary rivals in the dust.
Haslam won the primary with 47 percent of the vote.
During the campaign, Haslam was repeatedly attacked — first by his GOP primary rivals and later by McWherter for refusing to disclose his ownership share of Pilot and his annual company income, and for not providing his federal tax returns. They also claimed he had potential conflicts through Pilot in areas ranging from lottery tickets to the environment.
Throughout the general election contest, Haslam continued to dominate television. McWherter, hoarding cash, had an initial burst of advertisements around the time of the Aug. 5 primary but only got on television in earnest in mid-October. An inexperienced candidate running in his first contest, McWherter failed to make a strong showing in three televised debates and appeared to struggle in a year that observers said favored Republicans.
Vanderbilt University political science professor Bruce Oppenheimer said 2010 was not a good year for Democrats. McWherter, he said, failed to exploit any weaknesses until far too late.
“You don’t win a race where you’re an underdog by holding all your ammunition until the last two weeks, last three weeks, because you never expose or find out whether your opponent really has vulnerabilities,” Oppenheimer said.
For the most part, he said, “Haslam could run this positive campaign, and there was nothing really refuting it. If you’re an underdog, you can’t do that.”
Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550.