On the very day of the first joint appearance here of all would-be Republican successors to 7th District U.S. Rep. ED Bryant, one of them, Memphis city councilman, Brent Taylor, has made an outright endorsement of Bryant in his GOP primary race for the Senate against former governor Lamar Alexander.
In a statement released Tuesday, Bryant said, “I’m not just going to compare myself to Ed Bryant, I’m willing to publicly endorse his candidacy. I know [he] can’t make an endorsement in this race, and I wouldn’t ask him to do that. However, I can endorse him.”
Taylor, who will appear jointly with the other major 7th District Republican candidates before the East Shelby Republican Club at Pickering Community Center Tuesday night, said Bryant had “stood up for our values in Tennessee,” including “lower taxes less government, and a strong national defense.”
The councilman, who works as a mortuary administrator, said Alexander was “a good man,” but that district residents needed someone “from outside the establishment.”
Also scheduled to appear at Tuesday night’s Germantown forum were fellow Shelby Countians State Senator Mark Norris and lawyer David Kustoff, and state Senator Marsha Blackburn and lawyer Forrest Shoaf, both of Williamson County..
Bryant also picked up an endorsement from another key Shelby Countian, State Rep. Tre Hargett od District 97 (Bartlett, Cordova). In a statement Tuesday, Hargett endorsed Bryant as one who “has proven himself in Congress to be a consistent conservative and proven legislator…a man of the people who reflects our Tennessee values… a dedicated, intelligent legislator who has been in the trenches with President Bush….”
