The four-candidate race in Senate District has been reviews Hank Hayes. An excerpt.
Jackson, meanwhile, is hoping her name identification in Hawkins County
— the district’s largest county in population — will push her ahead,
although she finished third in the 2010 GOP Primary for the county
mayor’s race.
“I have put out more than 1,000 signs…I’m running a retail campaign,
going door-to-door and seeing people face to face,” said Jackson, a Realtor.
Rice, however, takes issue with Jackson’s connection to former state
Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens, a Rogersville Democrat.
“I signed her (nominating) petition; (but) I told her that after quite a
bit of encouragement from the leadership of the Republican Party in our
district (and beyond ), that I had also decided to run for the state
Senate seat,” Rice said in an e-mail. “She stood up and looked extremely
upset; then told me that Ken Givens was going to be able to raise quite
a bit of ($249,000) money for her and that I couldn’t raise near that
much and that (Givens) could get Democrats to cross over and vote in the
Republican Primary.”
In response to Rice’s e-mail, Jackson said: “I did not say anything like
that….We didn’t discuss anything about money. He must have a bad
memory or he is not telling the truth.”
Givens, a former state representative and a widower, acknowledged he’s
in a relationship with Jackson.
“When she announced she was running for state Senate, I would think that
most people would understand that someone seeing someone would probably
support them,” Givens explained. “…If I’m from Hawkins County, it
would only make sense that I would want somebody from Hawkins County
whether I was seeing Cynthia or not…I’m not ashamed or timid that I
would back a Hawkins Countian…I don’t have any plan to go after
Democrat votes. That’s something people decide for themselves.”
Aside from attacking Jackson, Rice said he’s focusing on jobs and
education in his campaign appearances.
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