WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): In November of 2026, Tennessee will elect a new governor. And while that is still a good while away, Gov. Bill Lee's successor will inherit a state that continues to move to the right on issues of education and deregulation. With us to talk about potential candidates is Mike Carpenter, principal with Carpenter Civic Strategies and a former county commissioner. Thank you for joining us.
MIKE CARPENTER: Thanks for having me.
BLANK: Mike, middle Tennessee congressman John Rose is the first to announce he's running for governor. U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn has shown some interest. Whoever runs for governor: what's important to Tennesseans right now?
CARPENTER: Well, first I would say that more than just showing some interest that Sen. Blackburn is almost certain to get in the race. But in terms of what Tennesseans care about, certainly the economy is always going to be at the top of the list, and especially with inflation having been a little bit stubborn. It's coming down, but still a little bit stubborn. Not really sure what the impact of the Trump tariffs are going to be, and whether that's going to increase. And then the fact that we have a very high sales tax burden that really hurts a lot of working class folks in terms of buying groceries and buying medicine. And so I think the economy is certainly going to be one of the major issues. I think another important issue is any fallout from the universal voucher program that was just passed. That's going to be a question for the next governor.
BLANK: And the other question is going to be funding for a lot of these things. Since the pandemic there has been federal funding coming to Tennessee. That money will be going away. And combined with proposed federal budget cuts and a cooling economy, Tennessee may have to tighten its belt. So how might the next governor's spending priorities differ from Gov. Lee?
CARPENTER: Education is going to continue to be an increased cost. The can that continues to get kicked down the road is corrections. Our prison system is understaffed. We have aging facilities. And so, I think that the next governor is going to have to deal with that expense as well. There might not be a lot of funding for extra programs. Now, in fairness, I should say that it's looking like the state's rainy day fund will be about $2.2 billion once the governor's budget passes. So, that does give the next governor some cushion to deal with any kind of economic downturn or any fallout from tariffs or other issues that could impact Tennesseans.
BLANK: I know that support of Donald Trump's policies does factor into federal elections. Does it factor much into state elections like in the governor's race?
CARPENTER: Yeah, I think it absolutely does. I think that Congressman Rose and Sen. Blackburn spent the last several years trying to show that they are completely loyal to President Trump and neither have criticized or pushed back against him on any issue. Now, if some of his policies start to rub voters the wrong way and his approval ratings--which aren't great right now, but continue to drop -- you know, you may see them talk a whole lot less about it. But as long as he remains popular in this state, they're going to try to out-Trump each other.
BLANK: So, if Sen. Blackburn runs for governor, it does open up her Senate seat. Are there any Republican contenders at this point?
CARPENTER: So, she just got re-elected and what that means is that if she wins the governor's race, then she could appoint her successor. And I think there's a really good chance that you might see Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs as that appointment. If there's more of a process, then I think you would certainly see Congressman David Kustoff throw his hat in there and certainly try to get that appointment. Because what the appointment does is it would have roughly four years left on it. And so that really gives somebody a true incumbent advantage going into the next election.
