A Kingsport debate between the leading Tennessee gubernatorial candidates originally set for May 22 has been cancelled by the organization that had scheduled it. The PEAK Young Professionals organization made the announcement via email Monday.
“Due to scheduling conflicts that have arisen over the last two weeks with several of the gubernatorial candidates, less than half of the candidates are now confirmed to attend the May 22nd debate. As such, PEAK is cancelling the debate… In lieu of the debate, we have offered the candidates the opportunity to participate in meet-and-greets with PEAK as their schedules allow. Karl Dean has been the first to accept this offer, and we are in the process of scheduling a meet-and-greet with him for Wednesday, May 23rd, at 9:30 AM. Location TBD, downtown Kingsport area.”
Gubernatorial candidates Congressman Diane Black (R), Randy Boyd (R), Karl Dean (D), Representative Craig Fitzhugh (D), Bill Lee (R), and Kay White (R) had originally committed to attend.
Meanwhile, Leadership Tennessee, an organization committed to collaborative, non-partisan dialogue on issues of statewide importance, has announced it will host a Tennessee Gubernatorial Forum May 15 at Lipscomb University.
The 90-minute forum is Leadership Tennessee’s first and will be streamed and broadcast statewide.
