NASHVILLE, Tenn. (NEXSTAR) – It looks like President Trump will have at least one of the people running for governor at his side during a Nashville visit in a week and a half.
“I plan on joining him,” Rep. Diane Black told News 2 on Thursday. “I am hoping that I will be able to leave Washington with him on the plane and be able come here to Nashville and be here as he addresses those folks in the agriculture community.”
The American Farm Bureau Federation announced last week that President Trump would speak at the Jan. 5-10 convention in Nashville.
Being with the President who overwhelmingly won Tennessee in 2016 would be seen as a boost for any Republican running for governor, but in the nearly half year since announcing her campaign Black sees rural communities getting connected to the internet and being connected by roads as a top campaign issue.
“Those are the two things that a very common across the entire state for the rural areas so that is one of the great messages I have learned,” added Rep. Black.
Rep. Black spoke to News 2 one day after announcing she would step down as chair of the powerful House Finance
“I knew there would come a time where I would not be able to give the kind of time I would need to give to be in the budget chair,” she said on Thursday.
Black will continue being the first woman to chair the House Finance committee until her colleagues decide on a replacement, but she is not resigning her seat while running for governor.
She cites one of the key issues for her while remaining in Congress.
“To look at welfare reform to make sure people are reaching their fullest potential,” said Black who also cited infrastructure as both another priority in Congress along with what she hears in the campaign trail.
Black is one of five major candidates vying for the Republican nomination for governor.
The other major GOP candidates include House Speaker Beth Harwell, former state economic and community development commissioner Randy Boyd, former state senator Mae Beavers and Williamson County businessman Bill Lee.
