Green won’t restart gubernatorial effort, sets sights on D.C.
NASHVILLE — Republican state Sen. Mark Green firmly closed the door on restarting his gubernatorial primary campaign on Friday but is now looking at opening another campaign he thinks can lead him to the nation’s capital.
“I will not be resuming my campaign for governor,” the state senator from Clarksville, Tenn., said in a statement Friday. “I will instead look to Washington, D.C., to help serve our country and provide real help to President Trump.”
In January, the physician, businessman and U.S. Army veteran was the first to enter the governor’s race. But he suspended his campaign in the spring while under consideration to be Republican President Donald Trump’s Army secretary.
Following withering attacks from critics over past comments he’s made about Islam and LGBTQ issues, Green last month withdrew his name from consideration. He has maintained they were distortions from the left.
Supporters, meanwhile, urged Green, who lives in Ashland City near Nashville, to re-enter the governor’s race. He later showed some interest, appearing at several public events. Last week, he announced he’d made a decision about the contest but declined to reveal it.
Many believed Green was out of the governor’s race, however, after state Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, said she was running for governor. Both state lawmakers often take the same stances on social legislation.
“My mission is the conservative cause, not a position,” Green said in his statement. “The very difficult task of electing a true conservative to be the 50th Governor of Tennessee when the vote will clearly be split among several candidates, harms that cause. For that reason, I will not be resuming my campaign for governor.”
His decision tightens the crowded 2018 gubernatorial field for governor, but even before Friday’s announcement there had been speculation the ambitious Green might turn his eye to federal office.
“Several options exist in the near future to do this and I will continue discussions with people around the state and Washington as I find the best path of service,” Green said in his statement.
One federal race up in 2018 is for the U.S. Senate, with incumbent Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., widely expected to seek re-election to a third term, although he has yet to announce.
In an interview published recently with The Tennessee Star, a conservative online news site, Green noted he and Corker “have not always agreed on policy decisions.”
But Green also added in the same sentence that Corker “was a huge advocate for me in this [confirmation] process … including working to get the truth in response to the attacks against me to the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.”
Green also added that U.S. Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., and Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., “were also great advocates on my behalf during the process.”
Black has yet to announce, but many believe the Gallatin Republican who currently represents the 6th Congressional District is running for governor, leaving her seat open. While Green lives in Cheatham County, which is in the 5th Congressional District, it wouldn’t be a stretch for him to run in the 6th District to replace Black.
Congressional candidates do not have to live in a district to run there.
Meanwhile, Green’s ruling out the governor’s race could bring a little more clarity to a crowded GOP field there.
Beavers, meanwhile, plans her official announcement today.
Besides Beavers and Black, other Republicans who have announced or are taking a hard look at doing so include Knoxville Republican businessman Randy Boyd, a former state economic and community development commissioner; state House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville; Franklin businessman Bill Lee and state Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville.
Norris has been mentioned as a potential Trump administration pick to fill a U.S. District judgeship in West Tennessee.
On the Democratic side are former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, who has already announced, and state House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, whom many expect will run.