Email |

Wamp believes 'issue matrix' will fuel his 2010 run for governor

Published February 10th, 2009 | 1 Comments

BLOUNTVILLE — U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp fielded the question Monday that seems to follow him everywhere he goes: Why give up a safe congressional seat to try and become Tennessee’s next governor?

“I never wanted to be a career person in any political position. ... The skill sets I have are very wellpositioned to serve our state,” Wamp responded while speaking to about a dozen Sullivan County Republicans during a dutch-treat lunch at Giovanni’s.

Wamp began the Northeast Tennessee swing of his 2010 gubernatorial candidacy by meeting with some Eastman Chemical Co, executives, making fund-raising calls, and networking with grass-roots GOP leaders.

Wamp’s main GOP primary competition is Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, who recently announced he raised $1.4 million in a hometown fund-raiser for his gubernatorial campaign. Haslam is also expected to put his personal wealth behind his campaign.

“He can spend more money in a family outing than I can in a campaign,” Wamp said of Haslam. “People tell me they don’t want money to determine who the next governor is. ... I’m not going to be intimidated by money. The super wealthy in our country hasn’t done our party any favors.”

Wamp had about $527,000 cash on hand in his congressional campaign account at the end of 2008 but said he can’t use it in a governor’s race.

“And there is no personal wealth to spend,” he said when asked if he could bankroll his campaign.
But Wamp pointed out there is “an issue matrix” — including his pro-life and pro-gun votes in Congress — “that I win and (Haslam) loses.”

Wamp also voted against the House version of the $800 billionplus economic stimulus bill and said he plans to vote against it again when a conference version is worked out between both houses of Congress.

One other potential GOP opponent could be Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey of Blountville. Ramsey has been weighing his own 2010 gubernatorial bid and could wind up taking the job this year if Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, became the nation’s Health and Human Services secretary in President Obama’s administration.

“I would be shocked if they gave up the governorship, the Democrat Party, which gives a Republican the governorship,” Wamp said. “I would be surprised because that would be an unusual development.”

When asked how he would manage state government, Wamp said he thinks the state’s fiscal picture will be better in 2010.

“When I was hands on involved in recruiting Volkswagen to our state, they said us not having a state income tax was a good thing, not a bad thing,” Wamp said. “You have to look at creating efficiencies and slowing the growth of health care. ... The next governor is going to inherit, I think, a better economy than the current governor has, but we’re still going to have to operate under the constraints of a balanced budget and find efficiencies to re-prioritize things.”

Wamp also said Tennessee Republican Party Chairwoman Robin Smith’s decision to strip House Speaker Kent Williams of his GOP affiliation was unfortunate.

Williams, a state representative from Elizabethton, had pledged to vote for House GOP Leader Jason Mumpower of Bristol as House speaker before winning the job with his vote and the votes of 49 House Democrats.

“I’ve never been more disappointed for a young man who was prepared to lead than I was for Jason Mumpower,” Wamp said. “At the same time, I don’t want to pick a fight with anybody. ... I’m going to be working to try to bring our party back together. I do think that what happened with Kent Williams is going to mobilize the grass-roots Republicans like never before in our state. I expect next fall (in 2010) for us to win several more seats in the House and expand our numbers to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

“I got calls today from prominent people in the 1st (Congressional) District who were against (Smith’s decision). I got calls today from prominent people in the 1st District who were for it. It’s a divisive thing.”

For more information go to www.zachwamp.com .

Discuss This Story

Be the first to comment: Sign In or Create Profile .

DON'T FORGET THAT WAMP VOTED IN FAVOR OF THE FIRST BIG BAILOUT!

Chuck Williams | 2/10/2009 - 1:53 PM - ( Comment

Suggest Removal )

To comment, you must register.

Comments are the sole responsibility of the registered user participating in online discussions. You agree not to post comments off topic, abusive, obscene, defamatory, vulgar, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned.

Click here to review our complete user agreement.