Haslam: Wasn’t Excited About Idea Of Senate Run

Gov. Bill Haslam visited the Upper Cumberland to announce a major economic investment in White County. He also spoke briefly about his decision to not run for Sen. Bob Corker’s seat.

“I thought about it very seriously but in the end I love the job I’m doing now, I don’t really want to sacrifice my last 15 months to be a part-time governor and a part-time senate candidate, I wanted to make certain I gave everything I had these last 15 months being governor,” Haslam said.

Speculation about Haslam’s ambitions began almost as soon as Corker announced he wouldn’t run for re-election.

“For me, when I thought about running for mayor and I thought about running for governor there was a certain excitement about it, at this point in time I just didn’t have that same excitement about running for senate,” Haslam said.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn announced she would run for Corker’s seat Thursday morning.