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The Tri-Star State: Who Are These Guys Running For Governor?

Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean have staked out different positions on guns, abortion and many other important issues.
Bill Lee for Tennessee/Karl Dean for Governor
Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean have staked out different positions on guns, abortion and many other important issues.

Hear the radio version of this story.

One of the first major polls of the Tennessee governor’s race shows a pretty sizeable advantage for the Republican nominee. But it also highlights a question being asked across the state: Who are these guys?

A recent poll found that more than a quarter of likely voters are either unsure about or have never even heard of Williamson County businessman Bill Lee. Nearly a third are unfamiliar with former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean.

Middle Tennesseans know Lee as the man behind his namesake business Lee Co., and Dean as the former two-term mayor of Nashville. But in other parts of the state, they are both still trying to introduce themselves to voters.

WPLN has been talking to Lee and Dean throughout their campaigns about their stances on various issues, which could help voters get to know them a little better.

Here to help sort through it all are Jason Moon Wilkins and Chas Sisk.

Listen to The Tri-Star State using the audio button above, or:

Copyright 2018 WPLN News

Chas joined WPLN in 2015 after eight years with The Tennessean, including more than five years as the newspaper's statehouse reporter.Chas has also covered communities, politics and business in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. Chas grew up in South Carolina and attended Columbia University in New York, where he studied economics and journalism. Outside of work, he's a dedicated distance runner, having completed a dozen marathons
Jason Moon Wilkins