NASHVILLE – Former U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp is endorsing Franklin businessman Bill Lee in Tennessee’s Aug. 2 Republican gubernatorial primary, saying Lee’s “positive vision” and refusal to engage in what Wamp calls “trash politics” set him apart in the four-candidate field.
“Campaigns for office have a way of bringing out the best in people and bringing out the worst in people,” said Wamp, a Chattanoogan who served seven terms in the U.S. House and ran unsuccessfully for governor himself in 2010. “And I am jumping in to help Bill Lee primarily because of the campaign he has run.”
Wamp said in the Times Free Press interview Sunday that he originally intended to stay out of the primary but is now helping Lee because “he’s trying to lift people up instead of tearing them down.”
Wamp will campaign with Lee on Monday.
GOP race frontrunners U.S. Rep. Diane Black of Gallatin and Knoxville entrepreneur Randy Boyd are engaged in a multimillion- dollar slugfest with television, radio, direct mail and digital ads in the contest where early voting began last week. Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, is the fourth major GOP candidate.