Tennessee Governor's Race 2018: State Rep. Craig Fitzhugh Enters Democratic Primary

State House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, a Ripley Democrat, is running for governor, setting up an intriguing Democratic Party primary for 2018.

Fitzhugh, 67, is the chairman and CEO of a small bank chain based in Ripley, a town of about 8,000 people north of Memphis. He has been a member of the General Assembly for 23 years, currently representing three rural West Tennessee counties, making him something of a rare bird and a dying breed: the rural Tennessee Democrat.

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His primary opponent is former Nashville mayor Karl Dean, setting up an interesting contrast. Dean — the Ivy League-educated big city mayor — is criticized, both within the Democratic Party and outside of it, for his support of charter schools and pro-business stances, which have earned him the support of the chamber of commerce in past races, but sometimes alienated progressives, while his recurrent use of tax incentives proved irksome to those same progressives, but also a significant number of conservatives. Meanwhile, Fitzhugh —the homespun country banker, who says he is a moderate and has, in fact, voted for several pieces of charter school legislation — has been bandied about as the alternative to Dean for and by the left wing of the Tennessee Democratic Party.

"The problems and the situations that people in North Nashville and south Memphis find themselves in are not much different than those in Ripley, or Columbia or Etowah or other communities," Fitzhugh told The Tennessean. "There are things that we can do to give people an opportunity to better their lives."

Fitzhugh told the paper "education, jobs, infrastructure and health care — particularly the expansion of Medicaid" are his campaign priorities and that the state's Democrats need a return to boldness.

"I think there's a dissatisfaction among Democrats because Democrats aren't as bold as they used to be. Sometimes they don't want to admit they are Democrats, and I think sometimes we've had the issues wrong. That's the reason I want to focus on things we can make better. Give people from all walks of life, from all income strata, from cities, from other communities, the opportunity for government to help them with some of the basic tools," he said.

A Democrat hasn't won a statewide race since Phil Bredesen's second gubernatorial win in 2006. Republicans hold walk-out-proof super-majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.

Fitzhugh faces an uphill battle against Dean, who already reported $1.2 million in fundraising and has a 30-point name recognition lead, according to a recent Vanderbilt poll.

Image via State of Tennessee