GOP governor candidates debate in city
Ryan Poe and Joel Ebert
Memphis’ controversial takedown of its Confederate monuments, arming teachers and development incentives were among a handful of topics addressed in the first Republican Tennessee gubernatorial debate Wednesday in Memphis.
The hour-long, televised event between U.S. Rep. Diane Black, Knoxville entrepreneur Randy Boyd and Williamson County businessman Bill Lee was mostly cordial but offered voters an early view of the differences between the candidates.
Citing her ongoing legislative duties, House Speaker Beth Harwell was the lone top-tier Republican absent from the debate.
Earlier in the week, House lawmakers stripped $250,000 from the state budget meant for Memphis’ bicentennial celebration next year, retribution for the city’s decision to sell two parks to a nonprofit that then removed Confederate statues from the sites.
Asked their opinions, Black and Boyd said they disagreed with the decision to “punish” Memphis — but all three candidates said they objected to the removal of the statues.
“Our history actually unites us more than it divides us,” Black said. “History should stay history.”
In a follow up interview, Lee said he also disagreed with the legislature’s decision on the budget alteration. “The real problem here was that the approach was wrong,” he said.
Beyond their agreement on the monuments, the candidates held similar positions on several issues, including opposition to in-state tuition for undocumented students, improved school safety and better state economic development support for the Memphis area.
Black took a different tack than her peers, arguing that Memphis needs to make gains in terms of education and reducing crime in order to improve its economic development.
“Those have to be right before you can recruit somebody into the area,” she said, noting Memphis is well-positioned to be the economic driver of the region. “When there is crime, factories don’t want to move into that area. When there’s not education, they don’t want to move into that area.”
On the issue of school safety, the candidates were asked to raise their hands if they supported arming teachers. Black and Lee quickly held up their hands, with Boyd showing hesitation. He later said he thought the issue should be voluntary and that students’ safety should not depend on arming teachers.
“As a state, the root cause is taking care of more people with mental health issues,” Boyd said.
Black called for giving law enforcement more leeway to address “red flags.” She also called for a “see something, say something” policy at schools.
Lee said while his heart breaks when it comes to school shootings, it is important to look at surrounding issues such as mental health and others.
“We protect our nation and our nation’s leaders with firearms, yet we leave our children in gun-free zones, Lee said. “That doesn’t make sense to me.”
In addition to the group questions, the candidates were asked about specific topics.
When asked why she was not among the group of 107 Republicans who signed a letter to President Donald Trump asking him not to impose his proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, Black said, “We’re laser-targeting those players that are not coming to the table like China.”
In a later interview, Black said she was confident exemptions could be added for certain industries that would help lighten any impact of the proposed tariffs.
Faced with a question about whether he would support outsourcing of government jobs, Lee said, “We need to do whatever we can to reduce taxpayer dollars.”
He said not all outsourcing is good, vowing to halt privatization in the state’s poorer counties “if it costs jobs.”
Asked about the Memphis Regional Megasite, Boyd, the former commissioner of the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development, said he will immediately begin “selling” the site to companies if elected.
Though the debate revealed few differences among the candidates, each did their part to try to appeal to voters. Lee and Boyd touted their business experience, while Black labeled herself as a “career nurse, not a career politician.”
Black has served in public office in various capacities since 1998.
Attendees of the event, held at Halloran Centre for Performing Arts and Education, included state Republican Party chairman Scott Golden and Memphis attorney and Republican National Committee general counsel John Ryder, as well as a host of local public officials.
Wednesday’s debate came one day after Democrats Karl Dean, the former Nashville mayor, and House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh joined Boyd and Lee at a gubernatorial forum on rural issues in Jackson.
The event, which was sponsored by the Greater Memphis Chamber and broadcast on Nexstar TV stations, is the first of three GOP debates set to take place in the lead up to the Aug. 2 primary. The general election is Nov. 6.