TN State Representative and Senate candidate Joe Carr wasted little time in responding to a comment from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who, while visiting Tennessee tonight, suggested it would be “dumb” to vote for anyone other than incumbent Lamar Alexander.
Carr’s team released the following statement:
“You know what’s dumb? Presiding over a state that has a $2.7 billion budget deficit, has had its credit bond ratings downgraded six times and has become a fixture of controversy and scandal. This might be considered successful governance in New Jersey and in Washington, but here in Tennessee, that’s the definition of dumb governance.”
“The fact that Sen. Alexander is so comfortable associating with someone who is the target of numerous federal investigations for using Hurricane Sandy relief aid as a political slush fund and abusing his power in office to target his political enemies makes me believe he’s beyond out-of-touch with how real people view the political establishment. Maybe in Washington it’s become the status-quo to condone this type of behavior but in Tennessee, we believe in holding our public officials to the highest ethical standard possible, it’s disappointing that Sen. Alexander doesn’t do the same.”
Christie’s visit was already fueling controversy, with many Tennessee Republicans seeing it as a bad idea.
Tennessee is usually very friendly to Republicans. But Chris Christie isn’t exactly being embraced by some Volunteer State conservatives in advance of his big visit on Friday.
State Rep. Andy Holt took to his Facebook page calling the decision by the Tennessee Republican Party to invite Christie to headline the high-profile fundraiser an “absolutely terrible idea,” declaring the move would “cloud Tennessee’s conservative Republican Party with this questionable figure.” The conservative lawmaker added that he would not attend the event and that he’s “spoken with a number of other legislators who share my disapproval.”
Meanwhile, Carr has received endorsements from a number of Tennessee State legislators including Sens. Joey Hensley (R-Honenwald), Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) and Reps. Andy Holt (R-Dresden), Bill Sanderson (R-Kenton), and Tim Wirgau (R-Buchanan).