Gubernatorial, County Mayoral Hopefuls Pitch Platforms at Williamson County GOP Reagan Day Gala

The Williamson County Republican Party held its largest Reagan Day Gala ever on Saturday, with gubernatorial and county mayoral candidates vying for future votes, with a little help from a straw poll that’s irking some Republicans.

Gubernatorial hopefuls 

Gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn pitched her campaign platform to “make certain that Tennessee is the most conservative state in the United States of America,” calling for an increased focus on state-level immigration enforcement, “to make certain we're the nation's number one innovator in health care and education,” and "protect children.”

“President Trump has just announced we have carried out the largest strike against Iran tonight,” she said. 

“When you go home, please pray for our men and women in uniform that are on the battlefield right now and pray for their success. And I was talking with someone today that said we want to be sure President Trump finishes the job when it comes to Iran, and that we all stand with Israel. So important. Secondly, when I go back to D.C. on Monday, this little cabal of us in the Senate are determined that we have to pass the SAVE AMERICA Act.”

Following her remarks, Blackburn left the Franklin Marriott ballroom filled with more than 600 Republicans, many of whom sported her campaign stickers and chanted “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!”

“We've been going across this state, not talking at people, but listening to Tennesseans,” one of Blackburn’s Republican opponents, U.S. Rep. John Rose said during his remarks. “What are they saying they want? They want a governor who will listen, not one who shows up and then leaves as soon as they've said what they had on their mind. They want someone who will stay around.”

“The job of being governor is the job of being CEO of Tennessee. It's the job of leading the state into the future. and of the people running for this office, I'm the only one who has the relevant experience,” Rose continued.

Following the event, Rose told the Williamson Scene that if elected, his main focus would be education and infrastructure.

When asked about his stance on expanding school vouchers — legislation that’s being debated in the statehouse — Rose signaled he would support altering the program based on the results, data that is not currently available.

“I think we're going to have to see if it works. Does it deliver results? What we've got to keep in mind, though, is that 90% of our kids are going to graduate from public schools, and so whatever we do on the choice side has to lift all boats. If it's not improving outcomes in public education — no matter how good the results are for those kids that go to private schools, if we're not changing the outcomes for public school students — then the program is failing.”

Rose is not sold on the proposed “choice lane” project pitched by Gov. Bill Lee’s administration as a traffic congestion remedy.

“We've got this huge backlog of infrastructure projects in this state. For most of my lifetime, at least the last 45-50 years, we've had two pillars of our approach to building roads [and] to building infrastructure in this state, and the first one is no tolls and no financing. Pay-as-you-go choice lanes violate both of those principles,” Rose said. 

“I think it's yet to be seen if Tennesseans are going to embrace that dramatic change of approach. We obviously want to figure out ways to speed up the process of improving our public infrastructure, so again, that's one of those things we have to measure. Does what has been put in place work? Does it produce results that Tennesseans are happy with?”

Blackburn would not take questions from reporters.

Rose said that Blackburn “doesn't answer questions that she hasn't already memorized the answers to,” adding that she would take “an imperial kind of approach to governing.”

While Blackburn is interested in making Tennessee “the most conservative state,” Rose argues that the state already holds that title (a view also held by Republican state legislators), and that Blackburn would see Tennessee “become a guinea pig as a state for trying new conservative tactics.”

“What Tennesseans want are Tennessee values leading to Tennessee dreams and aspirations being achieved. That's what I hear as I travel across the state, it’s what people really want for their lives, what they want for their state –– not some formula from Washington, inside the beltway, not some measure of conservatism to win some sort of national trophy for conservatism,” Rose said.

Rose said that the Republican candidates should “absolutely” have a debate, something that fellow candidate, state Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston) also wants. 

Fritts was not at the Williamson County GOP event, telling the Williamson Scene that it was a “pay to speak event” charging $5,000 for two minutes of stage time, adding, “I think this contributes to the delinquency of our politicians.”

“The people of Tennessee deserve a debate, and they deserve a real debate, not canned talking points,” Rose said. “We deserve a debate where the questions are impromptu, and we get to the question of who can think on their feet, who knows the issues that are important to Tennesseans, and who can deliver answers to those things in an unscripted way.”

Rose said that he and Blackurn have not discussed a debate, and expressed doubt that she would agree to one, saying “she has declared herself the winner of the election before the elections occurred.”

In October 2025, Blackburn told the Williamson Scene that her campaign was “in the listening phase,” and would neither commit to nor rule out a debate. 

In 2024, she refused to debate her Democratic senate opponent, state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville). 

She did debate former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen during the 2018 U.S. Senate campaign, but has routinely been criticized by the for not holding a public town hall since 2017, opting instead for curated “tele-town halls” with Republicans across the state.

Straw polls and unity

Blackburn took the top spot in a straw poll at the gala with 264 votes, followed by Fritts with 59 and then Rose with 51, but the vote tallies were initially not going to be made public, with Williamson County GOP Chairman Steve Hickey citing a decision by the party’s board.

However, minutes after the straw poll positions were announced, Blackburn’s team posted a celebratory image online along with a percentage breakdown of the vote tally.

The next day, the WCRP acknowledged the vote totals in their own online post.

“The straw poll was bought and paid for with Marsha loyalists packing the room. The assertion by the [Blackburn] campaign of a 70% victory without these facts stated plainly is a gross misrepresentation of the event,” Tennessee Stands, a right-wing activist organization founded by Gary Humble, said in a social media post. 

Humble, who has since stepped down from leading the organization, abruptly ended his state senate campaign just two months after launching a bid to unseat Sen. Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), who he nearly defeated in 2022. Humble is a supporter of Fritts’ gubernatorial campaign.

Williamson County Commissioner and county mayoral hopeful Mary Smith received 174 votes in the straw poll compared to her Lee-endorsed competitor Andy Marshall, who received 170 votes.

Smith told the Williamson Scene that winning the straw poll was “invigorating,” and added that she’s not concerned about any advantage that Marshall may have with his endorsement of the governor.

“The way I look at it is he [Lee] just hasn't met me yet,” Smith said. 

“I'd love to tell him more about my platform and tell him why I'm running. I spend most of my time in the community with everyday people, because I really feel like those are the folks that I need to serve. I haven't spent a whole lot of time in political circles, but I've always enjoyed working with the people that I need to with regards to coming to agreements, trying to get things done for the betterment of our community.”

Both candidates touted their business experience in their speeches, with Smith also leaning into her commission experience.

Hickey told the Williamson Scene that the event’s turnout signals that “engagement is going to be off the charts” throughout 2026.

“Six years ago tonight, the American public started losing rights that the framers [of the Constitution] gave them 250 years ago, [rights] that we're going to celebrate,” Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden said, a reference to the sixth anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. “We are still in the battle for all of those rights. Make no mistake that the Democrats are coming in 2026 for every single seat that they can win. They are going to try to do it.”

Golden also called for party unity.

“This is our primary season, and as Republicans, we love competition. We're not scared of it. But when the elections are over with, I want to remind you that we are all one team. We are all together to make sure that a Republican is on the ballot, and the Liberal Democrats are stopped at the door,” he said.

But that party unity, especially in Williamson County, is clearly fragile with unmended divisions from a raucous 2025 WCRP reorganization conference that saw the election results contested by the Williamson County Conservatives, led by Williamson County Commissioner Brian Clifford. Soon after, the State Executive Committee upheld county GOP reorganization results in what the Williamson County Conservatives characterized as a  “sham” and a “cover up.” 

For months, the two Republican groups have held dueling events.

While Clifford, and other supporters of the Williamson County Conservatives were present at the Reagan Day Gala, the group did rib the WCRP online for their choice of keynote speaker, Lara Logan, a once well-respected journalist, who spent much of her remarks attacking the press, praising right-wing politicians and warning of the threats of artificial intelligence.

After the event, the group took more shots at the WCRP online, posting, “It only took the WCRP 20 hours to release the vote tallies from their straw poll. Steve Hickey bizarrely refused to publicly state the actual numbers during the Reagan Gala. Probably because Marsha Blackburn crushed his preferred candidate for governor.”