Tennessee Governor’s Race 2010 – Ron Ramsey

*This is the third installment in an eight part series examining the candidates for governor in Tennessee. The first four installments will deal with the major Republicans in the race, followed by the Democrats, and a wrap up with the remaining minor candidates. These take longer to research and write, so be patient. No endorsements. Candidates are done in random order. Today’s installment is on Ron Ramsey*

Part 1 – Bill Haslam, Part 2 – Zach Wamp (+ Response to Zach Wamp), Part 3 – Ron Ramsey,

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey - Candidate for TN Governor 2010

I. Bio

Next to Zach Wamp, Ron Ramsey is the candidate with the most political clout in the Tennessee gubernatorial race. After ousting the late Senator John Wilder from the post of Lieutenant Governor in 2007, a post Mr. Wilder occupied for 36 years, Mr. Ramsey entered his bid for the Governor’s mansion just two years later. Mr. Ramsey’s move goes against the precedent Mr. Wilder established by not using the position of Lt. Gov to run for Governor (as Mr. Wilder so famously said: “I didn’t know what I should do with my life. I wanted to do God’s will. And I wanted to be governor so bad I could die in 1975, and my baby and my wife said ‘I’m not going to live in that big house having wine parties.’ I’m glad I stayed where I was because the Senate is the Senate.”)

Mr. Ramsey, born and raised in Tennessee, graduated from East Tennessee State University with a degree in Industrial Technology in 1978. Mr. Ramsey is a member of Elizabeth Chapel United Methodist Church where he serves as a Sunday School teacher. He resides in Blountville with his wife, Sindy and three daughters, Tiffany, Sheena and Madison.

Outside the Senate, Mr. Ramsey owns his real estate and auctioning business: Ron Ramsey & Associates. As his company says, they specialize in “real estate (farms, homes, and vacant land), personal property, industrial and commercial auctions.”

Mr. Ramsey represents District #2 in the Tennessee Senate. District 2 is home to Sullivan and Johnson counties in East Tennessee. It spans from Kingsport to Bristol, and covers Mountain City in Johnson City. This map is the best representative of the area, not everything in green is a part of Ramsey’s district, just Sullivan and Johnson counties in the right corner of the state. For a detailed look at Mr. Ramsey’s district, the Tennessee Senate provides a map with roads and cities marked out well here.

II. Criticism

Mr. Ramsey received national criticism regarding some remarks he made about President Obama’s citizenship status in the US. The specific exchange went like this:

Davis: It seems like it would be really good if somebody would file a suit against our present president to get back all the money he’s been paid as president on the grounds he’s not a legitimate president since he’s not a native-born citizen. The great preponderance of the evidence is he’s not a citizen. …

Ramsey: … I’ve got a tableful of advisers sitting over there and they’ll probably start cringing right about now when I start talking about some of this stuff right here. … I’m going to tell you something. I don’t know whether President Obama is a citizen of the United States or not. I don’t know what the whole deal is there.

Mr. Ramsey went on to talk about winning elections and job creation. This exchange and Mr. Ramsey’s answer of “I don’t know…” was picked up across the state and by national websites like Politico and Salon. The general criticism, especially from Tennessee Democrats, was that Mr. Ramsey was pandering to the Tea Party crowd. The TNDP was particularly pointed when they accused Mr. Ramsey of attempting to “pander to a far-right wing group of conspiracy theorists…”

Mr. Ramsey’s campaign did respond to these attacks by saying:

You can’t be serious. That’s totally taking his answer out of context. The state of Hawaii has already answered that in no uncertain terms and [Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey] made it clear in his remarks that conservatives need to focus our efforts only on POLICY differences with this administration – job creation, spending, and the over-reach of government in this Administration.

Another incident was about Mr. Ramsey speeding down the interstate. According to the report, Mr. Ramsey was videotaped going 92 m.p.h. down I-40 East. Mr. Ramsey denied the event ever took place.

III. The Money Trail

Mr. Ramsey is the current second place fundraiser in the Republican field behind Bill Haslam and ahead of Zach Wamp. What makes Mr. Ramsey’s fundraising totals impressive is the lack of fundraising he has been allowed to do under Tennessee law. While the legislature is in session, Tennessee legislatures cannot involve themselves in active fundraising. This restriction is something neither Zach Wamp or Bill Haslam have to endure during the race.

The latest campaign reporting figures have not been crunched and analyzed by Followthemoney.org, so the industries that are supporting the campaigns are unavailable right now. So, as with Mr. Wamp, the analysis will have to center on Mr. Ramsey’s past supporters.

Mr. Ramsey campaigned in 2008 and raised a total of $260,823. For a breakdown of the industries supporting Mr. Ramsey, Followthemoney.org provides a chart of the sectors that contributed to Mr. Ramsey’s campaign.

Ron Ramsey Donations by Sector

(Chart can be found here). Just over $65,000 was uncoded, leaving no industry.

The fact that real estate is at the top comes as no surprise given that is the industry where Mr. Ramsey is involved. Mr. Ramsey is a member of the Tennessee Association of Realtors, the National Association of Realtors, and is the former president of the Bristol TN/VA Association of Realtors.

Businesses also gave to Mr. Ramsey’s campaign and “Business Tennessee magazine named him “The Best Lawmaker for Business in Tennessee” in 2008.” If you take these two areas together, they make up 30% of Mr. Ramsey’s funds. If these figures are adjusted for the uncoded section, then business and real estate make up 40% of Mr. Ramsey’s funds.

IV. Issue Analysis

Mr. Ramsey has been called the “Tea Party Candidate” by some observers. That observation may stick given the field.

Unless otherwise noted, ProjectVoteSmart provides the information for these sections.

Abortion

Mr. Ramsey can be considered as “pro-life” on the issue of abortion. Mr. Ramsey indicates on his website that he aims to place “common sense restrictions on abortion.” He has voted “Yes” on bills that would say that abortion is not protected by the Tennessee Constitution.

However, he has also voted to allow abortion in certain situations. He voted yes to allow abortions in certain situations, in medically necessary situations, and in case of the rape of a minor.

Budget / Economy

As was mentioned earlier, Mr. Ramsey is well supported by businesses both monetarily and through awards. The National Federation of Independent Businesses has given Mr. Ramsey a rating of 100 based on his voting record.

Mr. Ramsey also says he will push to broaden the TNInvestco program that provides $120 million in venture capital money for “innovative new businesses.”

Budget

As the other Republican candidates, Mr. Ramsey indicates that he is against a state income tax (that seems to be the first benchmark for any Tennessee Republican these days). Mr. Ramsey also voted against increases in things like cigarette tax and has cut the sales tax on food.

Overall, Mr. Ramsey pushes for lower regulations and taxes. Not a bad mixture, though the lack of any promises on spending is troublesome given the Republican tilt on the legislature.

Second Amendment

The NRA has given Mr. Ramsey a grade of  “A+” on his voting record. Mr. Ramsey indicates he will continue this record if voted in as governor. Mr. Ramsey has voted to allow guns in bars and other places that serve alcohol as well as in state parks.

Education

Mr. Ramsey has shown that he does not want to cut K-12 school funding. He has voiced his opinion that more  accountability in regards to teachers is needed. He has indicated that he wants to increase the scope of charter schools as well.

The one thing that does set him apart is his stance towards homeschooling. Mr. Ramsey has indicated his desire to “appoint a home school advocate to the state board of education,” Mr. Ramsey further argues that “Tennessee’s state board of education should represent the breadth of Tennessee’s educational options, and as governor I will make sure that happens.”

V. Summary

The three major Republican candidates are Bill Haslam, Zach Wamp, and Ron Ramsey. Of those three, Mr. Ramsey is running the quietest campaign. Most of this is due to the legislature being in session right now. There are benefits and negatives to this quiet campaign.

Tom Humphrey has noted that this type of campaign benefits Mr. Ramsey because he has the loudest microphone at the moment. If important legislation is being passed, Mr. Ramsey has an open microphone to the press. The fact that Mr. Ramsey has even been able to stay in the game of fundraising with Mr. Wamp and Mr. Haslam is astounding.

A.C. Kleinheider has written an article on how this type of campaigning is beneficial for Mr. Ramsey. Mr. Wamp is spending his time launching attacks at Mr. Haslam while Mr. Haslam tries to spend his money to gain name recognition. Mr. Ramsey stands to benefit from this crossfire while his issue stances line up the closest with the Tea Party movement. In large part, Kleinheider is accurate in the benefits Mr. Ramsey is reaping from the other campaigns.

However, Mr. Ramsey cannot afford remain quiet. A recent MTSU poll indicates that 73% of Tennesseans cannot name a single candidate. Of those they did recognize:

Republican Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, who has been advertising heavily on television, appears to be the best known candidate. He comes to mind for 19 percent of Tennesseans. U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., follows, coming to mind for 10 percent of Tennesseans.

The remaining candidates – including state Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis, who quit the race at about the time the poll concluded – are recalled by 4 percent or fewer of the state’s adults.

Mr. Ramsey’s problem is that his statewide name recognition is sitting with a Democrat that recently dropped out of the race. This while Mr. Haslam pulls into an early lead. Even more concerning is attitude voters have towards the candidates:

MTSU Poll Results

The troubling aspect for Mr. Ramsey is twofold, first, McWherter is riding a better name recognition than Mr. Ramsey right now. Mr. McWherter is essentially riding on his father’s name in this regard. But even more troubling is the fact that more people currently oppose Mr. Ramsey than support. Though this is just a percentage point, such polarity is never good in politics. The same point applies to Mr. Wamp as well.

Though Mr. Ramsey cannot raise money, he should begin to use his stature as Lt. Governor a bit more to further his public profile. If Mr. Ramsey can build his name recognition to at least remain in contention with Haslam before the legislative session breaks, then he will be in good shape for the primaries. This does not mean he needs to go on the attack like Mr. Wamp and build negatives, but it does mean he needs to produce a positive statesman image for Tennesseans so his supporters and name recognition rise.