Governor Doesn't Rule Out 2018 Senate Bid

NASHVILLE, TN — Term-limited Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam didn't exactly dismiss speculation he might make a run for Senate in 2018.

Speaking to reporters at the annual Tennessee Press Association meeting, the Republican said he didn't know what is in the cards for him once his term expires.

"I honestly don't know," he said. "Two years feels like a long time."

The second term of Sen. Bob Corker, a fellow Republican and one of Haslam's closest friends and political allies, is up in two years. In his 10 years on Capitol Hill, Corker has climbed the ranks from being, literally, the Senate's lowest-ranking member — he was the only freshman Republican elected to a then-Democratic controlled Senate in 2010 — to one of its most powerful, now chairing the Foreign Relations Committee and was rumored to be on the short list to become President Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of State.

The state's other Senator, Republican Lamar Alexander is not up for re-election until 2020. He will be 80.

Image via the United States Department of Agriculture.