Doctor to challenge incumbent in vote

Jason Martin, a Nashville doctor critical of Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s hands-off approach to the COVID-19 pandemic, won the Democratic nomination for governor and will face Lee in November.

Martin, a first-time political candidate, defeated Memphis attorney and City Councilman JB Smiley Jr. by a thin margin, with advocate Carnita Atwater finishing a distant third. Both Smiley and Atwater would have been the state’s first Black gubernatorial nominee if either had won.

“We hear your message loud and clear. You’re upset that Bill Lee has failed you,” Martin said. “He stood on the sidelines while 27,000 of our fellow Tennesseans died during the last couple of years.”

Lee was unopposed in his