How Lee spent his first day as governor-elect of state
Bill Lee looked around the old Tennessee Supreme Court chambers Wednesday morning as he stood on the platform at the front of the room.
The morning after his victory, he had been driven up the hill to the state Capitol, where, for the first time, the Williamson County businessman walked through the doors as Tennessee’s next governor.
As the room of family and friends, lawmakers and state political leaders rose to applaud the governor-elect, a man who had never before held public office, Lee mouthed the words “thank you.” He took in the moment. It was a gathering more subdued than his victory speech the night before at a private Franklin event venue before hundreds of supporters with congratulatory signs.
But this was the real thing. It was a taste of the next four years.
“Gov.-elect Lee, welcome to your new office building,” Gov. Bill Haslam said.
Lee will differ from Haslam on policy
Lee, 59, cruised to victory Tuesday in Tennessee’s race for governor, beating out Democrat Karl Dean by 20 points.
Dean, 63, a former two-term Nashville mayor who had built a career in public service, campaigned as a centrist and sought the support of independents and moderate Republicans throughout the race.
Despite Dean’s policy experience, Lee’s story of an outsider seeking office for the first time, his message of faith and his call for the private sector and nonprofits, not more government, to help solve the state’s problems resonated with voters.
Pointing to Haslam’s leadership the last eight years, Lee praised the outgoing governor, telling the crowd gathered Wednesday morning that Haslam had taken Tennessee in the right direction, a foundation upon which Lee’s team would build.
But Haslam — a more moderate Republican who unsuccessfully tried to lead the state to expand Medicaid, convinced lawmakers to adopt a gas tax increase to fund transportation and supported in-state college tuition for immigrants living in the country illegally — is in a number of ways different from Lee in terms of policy positions.
Lee has said he opposes each of those measures, for instance.
When asked after the news conference Wednesday whether he was concerned about Lee leading the state too far to the right, as Dean had alleged on the campaign trail, Haslam pointed to Lee’s pure motives.
“I’m really not,” he said. “I’ve known Bill Lee a long time, and he’s a good man, doing it for the right reasons. He’s thoughtful.”
Michael Sances, an assistant political science professor at the University of Memphis, said it’s difficult to make a judgment on Lee’s ideology since he has no legislative record or experience running a government.
While positions like wanting to arm teachers and opposition to Medicaid expansion show that Lee may be further to the right than Haslam, Sances said he would be surprised if the Lee administration is not largely “a continuation of a Haslam era.”
But even if Lee proves that his agenda will be one that’s more conservative, that may not pose a problem for Lee. Republican Marsha Blackburn’s victory in the U.S. Senate race may show why.
“I think the Blackburn race shows us that the state is not as moderate as Haslam is,” Sances said.
What Lee says he will tackle first as governor
In his first moments after being elected governor, Lee provided a glimpse at what his priorities will be as governor.
First on the list: criminal justice reform — an initiative that he made clear also involves providing more resources to law enforcement.
Lee, who throughout his campaign touted his work with felons and nonprofit organizations working to decrease recidivism — such as Men of Valor in Nashville — said Tuesday night that while violent crime should be addressed so that every neighborhood is a safe place to live, he believes trust must be built between police and “communities like the inner city.”
He called for a criminal justice system that “punishes crime justly,” and on Wednesday elaborated that the state should consider sentencing reform.
The House Criminal Justice Committee met last month to discuss the potential for taking up criminal justice and sentencing reform in the coming legislative session that starts in January. Multiple speakers — which included stakeholders from law enforcement, the legal system and nonprofits — mentioned having already spoken with Lee’s team about the initiative.
After a campaign in which he traveled the state in an RV, Lee says he will “focus on the rural communities in our state,” giving them “the tools they need and the opportunities they need to thrive.”
In addition to addressing rural poverty, Lee called for an expansion of broadband to Tennessee’s rural communities “so that economic and educational opportunities that come with technology are not only available to those who live in our cities.”
While describing the need for education reform in the state, Lee highlighted his pro-vouchers position, announcing he would “make sure that parents have every option to give their kids a shot at a bright future.”
Lee doubled down on his call for the state to develop more partnerships with the private sector and nonprofits.
“Government is never going to solve the problems,” Lee told supporters in his victory speech. “But when we unleash the unique problem-solving capabilities of Tennesseans, our communities, when they have the tools and the support and the freedom to address their own problems, we know that they will flourish.”
How the Haslam-Lee transition will unfold
Meanwhile, Lee quietly rolled out a transition website on Wednesday, replacing his campaign website.
The website, which spells out some of Lee’s agenda under a priorities section, also allows the public to upload resumes and apply to work in his administration.
Lee on Wednesday morning also met with Haslam to begin going over details of the transition, and his campaign is expected to announce Thursday an initial list of who will assist Lee with the effort.
Cabinet appointees will be named in the coming weeks, Lee spokeswoman Laine Arnold said.
Until the inauguration in January, a team of Lee campaign staffers are working out of Legislative Plaza, in Speaker Beth Harwell’s and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally’s old offices.
Every state department has completed a continuity of state operations book, Haslam said, and pledged that each commissioner’s highest priority now will be to assist the Lee team as it transitions into leadership.
Haslam said he was prepared to sit down with Lee’s team immediately and begin talking about the budget process.