Rep. Kent Williams Talking Out Of School Again

By Kleinheider Posted on December 22, 2008 at 8:03 am

The moderate Republican firebrand of the legislature talks openly about supporting Democratic candidates for the constitutional offices of Tennessee which TNGOP chair Robin Smith believes would allow the party to remove his name from the Republican ballot in 2010:

“I really think it’s a bad time to be changing,” said Rep. Kent Williams, R-Elizabethton.

Williams said he is undecided about who to support for the constitutional officer positions and will wait until he can evaluate the Republican nominees.

He said the Democrats - Comptroller John Morgan, Secretary of State Riley Darnell and Treasurer Dale Sims - are highly qualified.

“Maybe we’ll have better-qualified candidates,” he said. “But I don’t think party affiliation should matter.”

MORE: Kent Williams keeps talking — this time with Andy Sher:

Rep. Williams questioned why some House Republican Caucus members opposed Rep. Steve McDaniel, R-Lexington, as House speaker pro tem “because he voted for a state income tax.”

“And we’ve got a (Republican) candidate for comptroller who is the godfather of the income tax,” he said.

The lone GOP candidate for comptroller is Justin Wilson, a tax attorney and major GOP donor. He was former Republican Gov. Don Sundquist’s deputy when Mr. Sundquist unsuccessfully pushed for a state income tax.

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Tags: constitutional officers, Kent Williams, Naifeh Republican  

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