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Tennessee gubernatorial candidates Karl Dean (left) and Bill Lee on the debate stage at last Tuesday’s debate at Eastman. Dean, a Democrat, thinks the state’s biggest coming challenge is workforce development and Lee, a Republican, is advocating more vocational education to address that issue.
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Northeast Tennessee Gubernatorial Debate

What can the state do to grow jobs in this economy?

Republican Bill Lee and Democrat Karl Dean got to address that question during their Kingsport debate last Tuesday before about 1,400 people at the Toy F. Reid Employee Center at Eastman.

Oct 15, 2018 at 8:30 AM
Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial nominee Karl Dean, at a Kingsport Chamber meet-and-greet, insisted health care services are going south in Tennessee amid the GOP's attack on his Medicaid expansion TV ad.
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Karl Dean's Tennessee gubernatorial campaign

Dean pushes back against GOP attack

Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial nominee Karl Dean pushed back Wednesday against GOP criticism of his TV ad talking about multiple rural hospital closings in the state. Dean has used the issue of rural hospital closings to make his case for Medicaid expansion.

Oct 10, 2018 at 6:15 PM
Democrat Karl Dean, left, and Republican Bill Lee had very different views about Medicaid expansion and school vouchers. Dean wants Medicaid expansion and Lee doesn't. Lee favors school vouchers, but Dean doesn't.
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Northeast Tennessee Gubernatorial Debate

Tennessee governor candidates disagree on Medicaid expansion, school vouchers

The debate, held at the Toy F. Reid Employee Center at Eastman, was sponsored by the Kingsport Times News and Johnson City Press. Presenting sponsors were Eastman and Ballad Health. The debate was televised by East Tennessee PBS.

Updated Oct 10, 2018 at 8:53 AM
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Inside Politics

When was area's last gubernatorial debate?

The last debate I could find in Sullivan County was the famed “War of the Roses” gubernatorial campaign between brothers Robert Taylor and Alf Taylor in 1886. The book, “Bob and Alf Taylor: Their Lives and Lectures,” told of a debate they held near the end of their campaign in Blountville. 

Updated Oct 9, 2018 at 9:41 AM
Former Sullivan County Commissioner Bill Kilgore chats with Chris Devaney, campaign manager for Bill Lee's GOP gubernatorial election, at Monday's luncheon. Lee is scheduled to debate Democrat nominee Karl Dean in Kingsport at the Eastman Employee Center on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.
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Tennessee Republican Party

What's on the line in the November General Election?

Control of Congress. President Donald Trump’s possible impeachment. The next occupant of the governor’s office in Nashville. That’s what is on the line during the November general election, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden and Chris Devaney, campaign manager for Tennessee Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Lee, told a Greater Kingsport Republican Women’s luncheon on Monday.

Oct 2, 2018 at 8:51 AM
In the area of getting more people care, the Tennessee Hospital Association’s polling showed 75 percent of respondents said partial Medicaid expansion would be acceptable, particularly if it was tied into something like behavioral health or opioid treatment.
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Tennessee Hospital Association

Where can health care go from here?

The Tennessee Hospital Association (THA) hasn’t gotten what it’s wanted from the GOP-controlled General Assembly in recent years – namely Medicaid expansion – but still sees opportunity in the 2018 state elections.

Oct 1, 2018 at 8:30 AM
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