Two of five Tennessee Senate Democrats say Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is on a short list of Dems they say could win the governor’s seat once Gov. Bill Haslam leaves office.
Democratic Sens. Lee Harris and Jeff Yarbro said Thursday during a meeting with Chattanooga Times Free Press editors and reporters that Berke and two others have a better shot at winning the state’s top job than any die-hard Republican candidates who come along.
Harris, the Senate minority leader from Memphis, said statewide voters don’t tend to favor “rabid Republican” candidates. And he expects state Republicans to race in that direction during primaries.
“It almost seems like it’s a race to see who can throw Haslam under the bus fastest to prove their bona fides,” Harris said.
That gives Democrats an opportunity, he said.