Two candidates in Tennessee’s gubernatorial race discussed growth, business recruitment and preserving Volunteer State values at the Lincoln Day Dinner, the Hamilton County Republican Party’s largest annual fundraiser.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Cookeville, attended the event at The Chattanoogan hotel downtown.
According to a May poll by the Beacon Center, a conservative-leaning think tank, Blackburn leads the Republican primary field with 63% support, 53 points ahead of Rose at 10%. State Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, polled at 5%.
(READ MORE: Chair of Hamilton County GOP says all kinds of Republicans welcome at Lincoln dinner)
At the beginning of the year, President Donald Trump said Tennessee would be lucky to have Blackburn as governor while at a U.S. Treasury event, although he has not made an endorsement for any candidate.
While in Hamilton County, both Blackburn and Rose addressed comments they have both made about people and businesses moving to Tennessee and bringing certain ideas or values from Democratic states, sometimes called blue states.
“People are in pursuit of affordability, and that’s why they’re flocking to Tennessee,” Blackburn said in April in a post on X about the population growth in Tennessee. “In Tennessee, we welcome new families and businesses as long as they check the blue state policies at the state line.”
Lincoln Day Dinner: GOP gubernatorial candidates talk growth, business, preserving Tennessee culture
On Saturday, Blackburn said one of those blue state policies is sanctuary city laws, local rules that limit law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. That statement came in response to a question about what blue state policies she was referencing.
“One of the things that is different from a state like Tennessee and a blue state, blue states have sanctuary cities, and they will have these environments to take in people that are illegally in the country,” Blackburn said. “Tennessee ought to be No. 1 when it comes to deporting those that are in the country illegally, and that is something that is a big, a big difference.”
(READ MORE: Trump: Tennessee is lucky to get Blackburn for governor)
Blackburn also pointed to election laws as a key blue state policy that differs in Tennessee.
“People in Tennessee that vote, they’re citizens, and they show an ID when they go to vote, and voters like that because they know that our elections are secure,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn said she wants to pass the SAVE Act, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a proposed law that would impose on states certain verification processes for the existing requirement that only U.S. citizens can vote. The SAVE Act has stalled in the Senate.
In a gubernatorial campaign ad released recently, Rose said he will protect Tennessee culture from outside influences. One subject he touched on in the ad was diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Everybody’s moving to Tennessee, even corporate headquarters like Starbucks. We can’t let them change our state,” Rose said in the ad. “Starbucks pushed DEI and weird transgender stuff. Now, they want $30 million in taxpayer dollars from us. No thanks.
“I’m John Rose. Like Trump, I’m a CEO,” Rose continued in the ad. “I make tough calls. As governor, I’ll protect our culture. If you come to Tennessee, you gotta become Tennessee.”
Rose in the ad was referencing $30 million in state incentives approved in May by the state funding board to support Starbucks’ new Southeast regional headquarters in Nashville. Rose said taxpayer dollars should not be used to attract companies like Starbucks because of their focus on equity and inclusion.
“If you look at the values that they’ve espoused over the years, they focus on environmental, social governance and diversity, equity, inclusion, and these are values that, frankly, are out of step with Tennessee values,” Rose said. “And so if we’re going to take Tennessee’s taxpayer dollars and use them to incentivize a company to come here, we need a governor who’s strong enough to stand up occasionally and say no, we think you’d be more comfortable somewhere else, because your values are out of step with ours.”
Rose said he was not against all publicly funded business incentives, but that one of the things that should be weighed is if the company has a DEI policy like Starbucks.
“Well, I think you have to weigh that. I think there are times when we may want to say, you know, look, you probably aren’t going to be comfortable here,” Rose said. “You should think about another state, but it’s a free country, and if you’re coming here, (it’s) on your own dime.”
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Gail Greene, chair of the Hamilton County Republican Party, said in an interview ahead of the event that all types of Republicans — from very conservative to moderate — would be welcome at the Lincoln dinner.
Last year, the first dinner Greene hosted as chair, she said the party made over $90,000 in profit.
The funding goal for this year was originally $150,000, and Greene said Saturday the party is aiming for $250,000. At the start of the event, Greene said the party had raised about $120,000. Attendance was about 500 guests.
The dinner was in celebration of America’s 250th year, and the event room was decorated with American flags. The fundraiser included dinner, a live auction, a paddle raise and an address from the event’s keynote speaker, Lara Logan.
Logan is a former CBS reporter and war correspondent. In 2013, she issued a public apology on air for a discredited “60 Minutes” report about a compound attack in Benghazi, Libya, and was suspended. Logan is now an independent media personality, podcaster and host of the internet show “Going Rouge.”
Recent episodes of “Going Rogue” are titled, “COVID: The Cover-Up & Crimes Against Humanity with Sen. Ron Johnson” and “Showdown in South Carolina with GOP Primary Candidate Mark Lynch.”
Contact politics reporter Ruby Rayner at rrayner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6556.