As of today, the race for the open Tennessee governor’s seat will have reached the one-year mark, and candidates have seven months remaining to scramble for position in the primaries.
“It’s still very much a matter of attention that the press may pay to the candidates; then, of course, obviously, fundraising and building of organizations,” said John Geer, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University. “We obviously have a long way to go.”
Dr. Geer said the general public hasn’t “really tuned in to the race very much” since the contest kicked off Jan. 4, 2009, when former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., announced he was not running.
That opened the doors for most of the current Republican field — U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.; Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam; and Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons — to jump into the race. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, and candidate Joe Kirkpatrick entered the GOP contest shortly thereafter.
Most of the candidates in the Democratic field — former state Rep. Kim McMillan, of Clarksville; Mike McWherter, son of former governor Ned McWherter; Nashville businessman Ward Cammack and state Sen. Roy Herron, of Dresden — entered the race in early spring. State Sen. Jim Kyle, of Memphis, joined the race in August.