The Gubernatorial Battleground
Posted on April 13, 2009 at 8:00 amWe’re right in the middle of it:
“The growth of our party in the last 20 years has very much been in this collar around Nashville,” said Rep. Wamp, a declared candidate, of the socalled “collar counties” around the state capital. “Without a candidate in the Republican Party at this point from (Middle Tennessee), it’s a real battleground.” East Tennessee counties remain Republicans’ main base with Chattanooga, Knoxville and Tri-cities media markets reaching some 49 percent of the GOP primary vote in Republicans’ 2006 U.S. Senate primary, according to election returns.
Lt. Gov. Ramsey, R-Blountville, the state Senate speaker who is testing the waters for a bid, said conventional wisdom holds that he, the congressman and Mr. Haslam would split East Tennessee since each has power bases there.
The declared candidate from West Tennessee, District Attorney Gibbons, likely will take the Shelby County area, he said.
“So the two most important areas in this gubernatorial race in my opinion are the collar counties around Nashville… and rural West Tennessee including Jackson,” Lt. Gov. Ramsey said.
The Middle Tennessee collar counties include Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Sumner, Robertson and Cheatham. Once largely rural, they have exploded in growth in recent years. And many of their new voters are Republican. “All of us understand that Middle Tennessee is going to be a major battleground on the Republican side,” said District Attorney Gibbons. “At this point there’s no candidate from Middle Tennessee. My guess is there won’t be.” Mayor Haslam, also a declared candidate, said he intends to compete in all areas of the state but noted, “Middle Tennessee is an essential part of that.”
(FT: Woods)
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One Responses to “The Gubernatorial Battleground”
I’ve always preferred the term “donut” counties. I think both are appropriate in their own ways.