Bill Lee thanks supporters at a victory party after he won the Republican nomination for Tennessee governor Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018, in Franklin, Tenn. Lee's wife, Maria, is at front left. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)NASHVILLE - Fresh off last week's GOP primary victories, Tennessee's Republican candidates for governor and U.S. Senate are back on the air with new ads as the Nov. 6 general election gets off to a fast start.
In the case of GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Lee, the Republican Governors Association, led by retiring Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, has stepped in with an estimated $500,000 ad spend over the next two weeks in support of the Franklin businessman who emerged Thursday as Republicans' choice.
The ad features Haslam, who among other things calls Lee "the right choice to take Tennessee to the next step" in his contest with Democrat and former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean.
Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Senate nominee Marsha Blackburn is up with her own campaign ad in the fall contest with former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen. It features President Donald Trump praising her during a Nashville rally earlier this year, telling the crowd "we need Marsha Blackburn. We need Marsha in the Senate to continue progress and work that we've done over the last year and a half."
The 15-second spot then shifts to Blackburn telling attendees that "Tennessee needs a senator who is going to support President Donald Trump. I am going to be there to stand with President Donald Trump and take your Tennessee values to Washington, D.C., to fight with him to get the job done."
The governors association is stepping in for Lee at a time when the Franklin businessman's campaign war chest is down to $1.45 million after a fractious four-person GOP primary that he won with nearly 37 percent of the vote.
Much of Lee's remaining money came from personal funds he injected into his campaign in a contest in which he was vastly outspent by his top two rivals, Randy Boyd and Diane Black.
Blackburn, who faced no serious opposition in her primary, has plenty of cash on hand, as well as the support of national groups.
Bredesen is on the move as well, on Monday putting up a new digital ads featuring past comments by several Republicans, including retiring U.S. Sen. Bob Corker of Chattanooga and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Ooltewah, saying favorable things about him.
That drew fire from Fleischmann, who says he firmly backs Blackburn. Corker has said he supports Blackburn but won't campaign against Bredesen, whom he considers a friend.
Dean's campaign responded to the Republican Governors Association ad with communications director Paige Hill saying the former mayor is the "only candidate with the leadership and experience to keep Tennessee moving forward. He has a proven track record on improving public education and creating 70,000 new jobs. In Gov. Haslam's own words, Karl Dean was a leader on improving public education because they both knew that to be great, we have to improve public education. We agree."
The Dean campaign soon tweeted videotape of Haslam saying favorable things during a joint appearance at a forum about Dean's willingness to tackle tough education issues.
Tennessee Democratic Party spokesman Mark Brown, meanwhile, fired a shot at Blackburn, saying "after months of silence, it looks like Congresswoman Blackburn is finally trying to establish herself. Her problem is that she has no substance to offer when it comes to job-killing tariffs, health care reform, and other issues that matter.
"Beltway Blackburn represents everything that Tennessee voters hate about the swamp," Brown said.
Not to be outdone, the Tennessee GOP attacked Bredesen, a self-made multimillionaire, saying in a release that "Phil has said the Democratic party is 'too elitist and too distant from the concerns of the very down to Earth people that have always been the base of the party.' We agree, especially since Phil embodies this elitism."
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow him on Twitter @AndySher1.