NASHVILLE — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam is back on television with what his campaign says is a statewide cable buy.
Haslam spokesman David Smith would not say how much the campaign is spending on the ads or whether this means Mr. Haslam now will be on television until the Aug. 5 primary.
“We have a plan, and we’re working our plan,” Mr. Smith said.
Neither of the other GOP candidates in the primary — U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville — have gone on television.
The mayor of Knoxville, Mr. Haslam leads the Republican field in campaign fundraising and also is independently wealthy. He ran nearly $1 million worth of ads from Feb. 12 to Feb. 28, focusing on his business experience with his family’s Pilot Corp., which operates a national chain of interstate travel centers.
The new 30-second ad focuses on his “personal, spiritual and civic life as a father of three, devoted husband of 29 years and active church and community leader,” a Haslam campaign news release states.
It also seeks to portray him as someone “who is campaigning for governor by knocking on doors neighborhood by neighborhood statewide,” according to the release.