Bill Haslam
49th Governor of Tennessee
Incumbent
Assumed office January 15, 2011
Lieutenant	Ron Ramsey
Preceded by	Phil Bredesen
80th Mayor of Knoxville
In office December 20, 2003 – January 10, 2011
Preceded by	Victor Ashe
Succeeded by	Daniel Brown (acting)
Personal details
Born	William Edward Haslam (1958-08-23) August 23, 1958 (age 53) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Crissy Garrett Haslam
Children	Will Annie Leigh
Residence	Governor's Mansion
Alma mater	Emory University[1]
Religion	Presbyterian

William Edward "Bill" Haslam^[2] (born August 23, 1958) is the 49th and current Governor of Tennessee. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam was elected to office in 2010. Haslam previously served as Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, from 2003 until his resignation in 2011.

Early life, education, and business career[link]

Haslam was born in Knoxville in 1958, the third child of Jim Haslam, the founder of Pilot Corporation, the parent company of the convenience store and travel center chain, Pilot Flying J, and his wife, Cynthia. Jim Haslam has been a Republican Party fundraiser and University of Tennessee donor and trustee for several decades.^[3]

Haslam was educated at the Webb School of Knoxville, where he became active in the Christian group, Young Life.^[4] He later attended Emory University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in history in 1980.^[5] He is a member of the Beta Chi chapter of the Sigma Chi International Fraternity.^[6]

As a teenager, Haslam began working part-time in his father's corporation.^[5] He had made plans to teach history and eventually become a minister.^[6] Following his university graduation, he returned to Knoxville to work for Pilot in hopes of learning more about the business world before entering the seminary, and eventually decided to stay with the company.^[6] He was elevated to president of the company (with his brother, Jimmy, as CEO, and father as chairman) in 1995.^[6]

In 1999, Haslam joined Saks Fifth Avenue as the chief executive officer of the e-commerce and catalog division.^[7] He left Saks in 2001, and joined the board of the Dallas-based clothing chain, Harold Stores, later that year.^[6]

Haslam is one of the owners of the Tennessee Smokies, a minor league baseball team in East Tennessee.^[7] His brother, current Pilot Corp. & Pilot Flying J president James Haslam III, became a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2008.^[8]

Mayor of Knoxville[link]

In 2002, Haslam announced he was running for Mayor of Knoxville, inspired in part by a conversation he had had with then-Chattanooga mayor (and current United States Senator) Bob Corker. Knoxville's mayoral elections are nominally non-partisan,^[9] but Haslam was known to be a member of the Republican Party when he ran for the office. His opponent in the race, Knox County commissioner Madeline Rogero, criticized Haslam as an oil company puppet, and blamed his father for the appointment of controversial U.T. president John Shumaker, attack Haslam dismissed as "petty, personal politics". On September 30, 2003, he defeated Rogero by a 52% to 46% margin.^[10][11]

In 2006, Haslam appointed Rogero director of community development, later stating he had read Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, and was inspired by President Abraham Lincoln's decision to appoint former campaign rivals to his cabinet.^[11] He was reelected in 2007, winning 87% of the vote against challengers Isa Infante and Mark Saroff.^[12]

Haslam identifies several successful historic preservation initiatives among his accomplishments as mayor, including saving the historic S&W Cafeteria in downtown Knoxville, building a new cinema (the Regal Riviera) in the city's downtown, and revitalizing the historic Bijou Theatre. In 2008, he was appointed to a four-year term on the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation by U.S. President George W. Bush.^[7]

Along with historical preservation efforts, Haslam helped spur residential and retail growth in the downtown area, mainly by offering developers tax subsidies. He helped implement a master plan for the development of the South Knoxville riverfront, which was given an Outstanding Planning Award by the Tennessee Chapter of the American Planning Association. The Haslam administration operated under a balanced budget policy, which helped to double the city's savings during his first term.^[12]

2010 gubernatorial election[link]

On January 6, 2009, Haslam declared his intention to run for Tennessee governor in 2010.^[13]

His campaign received contributions of $3.9 million between January and July 1 in 2009, substantially more than his Republican primary rivals. Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey got $1.3 million and U.S. Congressman Zach Wamp's got $1.2 million, while Shelby County District Attorney General Bill Gibbons reported $416,000 at that time.^[14] Among Democratic candidates, businessman Mike McWherter raised $650,000 at the mid-year, followed by former State House Majority Leader Kim McMillan's $180,000.^[15]

Haslam received endorsements from former U.S. Senator Howard Baker and Congressman Jimmy Duncan.^[16][17] The Tennessean wrote, "Haslam appears most likely to be able to ride Gov. Phil Bredesen's pro-business coattails, despite the different party affiliation."^[17]

On the Republican side from July 1, 2009 until January 15, 2010, Haslam collected $1.8 million, Ramsey raised $1,412,593 including a $200,000 loan, Wamp raised $1,373,078 including a $61,000 loan, and Gibbons raised $225,218. Among Democrats during the six months, State Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle collected $741,485 including a $300,000 personal loan, McWherter raised $402,868, and McMillan raised $159,981.^[18]

Haslam campaigned on his executive experience as both Knoxville's mayor and the president of a major company. His opponents attacked him as an oil executive, especially in the wake of price-gouging allegations levied against Pilot in the wake of the post-Hurricane Katrina fuel shortages, and criticized his refusal to release information related to his income while at Pilot.^[11]

On August 5, 2010, Haslam won in the Republican primary for governor with almost 48% of the vote, compared to 29% for Wamp and 22% for Ramsey.^[19] Mike McWherter, son of former Governor Ned McWherter, was nominated by the Democrats after several well-known elected officials declined the candidacy.

On November 2, 2010, Haslam won the gubernatorial election over Democratic candidate Mike McWherter, taking 65% of the vote to McWherter's 35%. The Republicans also increased their majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, giving the GOP complete control of state government for the first time since 1869.

Governor of Tennessee[link]

2011[link]

Governor Bill Haslam

Haslam has stated that job creation and long-term economic growth are his top priority as governor, followed by education reform and workforce development. He favors a conservative state budget, keeping taxes low in order to create and maintain a business-friendly environment.^[20] On June 16, 2011, Haslam signed a $30.8 billion state budget, a 3.9% decrease from the previous year's budget.^[21]

The budget included 1.6% pay raise for state employees (though it also called for over 1,300 positions to be cut), grants to facilitate construction of an Electrolux plant near Memphis and a Wacker Chemie plant near Cleveland, and $10 million for the Memphis Research Consortium.^[22] The budget bill also contained an amendment cutting off all state funding to Planned Parenthood, but the measure was negated by a "mystery amendment" inserted into the same bill by an unknown legislator,^{[clarification needed]} something Haslam vowed to correct in 2012.^[23]

On May 23, Haslam signed a bill overturning a Nashville ordinance that barred discrimination against the hiring of homosexuals for any companies awarded city contracts.^[24] On June 1, Haslam signed a bill requiring voters to present photo identification at polling places, a measure supporters argue prevents voter fraud, but detractors have derided as an attempt to "disenfranchise" traditionally-Democratic voting blocs.^[25] On June 2, Haslam signed a bill replacing public school teachers' collective bargaining rights with a process called "collaborative conferencing", effectively bypassing the teachers' union, the Tennessee Education Association.^[26]

Other legislation signed by Haslam included a tort reform measure that limits non-economic damages in civil suits,^[27] a bill that lifted the cap on the number charter schools in the state and opened enrollment in charter schools to more students,^[28] and a bill that allows college students to use Hope Scholarship funds during summer semesters.^[29]

In October 2011, Haslam approved an order to implement a curfew on Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville, where several hundred protesters with the Occupy Nashville movement (part of the greater Occupy Wall Street movement) were camping out. In the early morning hours of October 28, 29 protesters were arrested when they refused to comply with the order,^[30] and on the following day, 26 were arrested.^[31] In both cases, the arrests were thrown out by General Sessions Night Court Commissioner Tom Nelson, who ruled that the state had no authority to set a curfew for Legislative Plaza.^[32] Haslam stated the curfew was necessary due to deteriorating sanitary conditions and safety issues on the Plaza,^[31][33] though critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit in federal court on October 31 to halt the arrests, have stated that the curfew is a violation of the protesters' civil rights.^[34]

Political positions[link]

This section requires expansion.

Haslam was formerly a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition but resigned early in 2009 and became a member of the National Rifle Association.^[35]

Haslam is pro-life and opposes gay marriage, though he has stated that he prefers his administration focus on the economy and education, rather than hot-button social issues.^[36][37] He stated that he favors cracking down on businesses that employ illegal immigrants, and suggested he would sign a law requiring law enforcement officers to check the citizenship status of arrested individuals they suspect might be in the country illegally, if passed by the state legislature.^[36]

On January 11, 2012, Bill Haslam endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination in the 2012 United States Presidential Election. This announcement came on the heels of Romney's victory in the New Hampshire primary on January 10.^[38] Haslam's father is the Tennessee state co-chairman for the Romney campaign.

Personal life[link]

Bill Haslam met his wife-to-be, Crissy Garrett, at Emory University and have been married since 1981; they have two daughters and a son.^[7][39] Haslam is Presbyterian, and has been associated with the Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bill Haslam

	Biography portal
	Politics portal
	Tennessee portal

• Official Governor of Tennessee website
• Bill Haslam for Governor official campaign site
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Profile at Notable Names Database