Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Haslam and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, Haslam's toughest critic in the primary campaign, which Haslam won Aug. 5, are scheduled to have lunch together Friday in Oak Ridge.
The meeting will be just the two of them.
Wamp said Thursday that Haslam initiated the meeting, and Wamp said he is looking forward to hearing what his former opponent has to say. Haslam was in Franklin on Thursday and was more vague about the contact between the two, saying he and Wamp would be getting together "in the next week" in Oak Ridge. Both men said there are currently no plans set for any public event.
Haslam said he and Wamp have talked a couple of times since the primary election, which Haslam won with 47 percent of the vote.
"He's been very supportive," Haslam said of Wamp. "He has passed on names to me of people, almost all of his top campaign folks, volunteers, have called, or I've called them, and said they definitely want to help."
Wamp said Thursday he was in Oak Ridge for eight meetings there with different people over a day and a half and that one of them is lunch with Haslam on Friday.
"I was here doing business, and he said he would come over from Knoxville," Wamp said. "He called and he said he just wanted to talk through with me the future and said there were things I laid out on the campaign trail that he thought should be considered, no matter who the governor was.
"I said, 'Well, that's going to be you, and I'm honored that you called,' and so we worked this out. So we're having lunch tomorrow here in Oak Ridge, just the two of us."
Wamp said he also received a note from former Sen. Howard Baker, who is honorary chairman of the Haslam campaign. Wamp said he had been scheduled to meet with Baker Thursday but that Baker wasn't able to do so and was having a health checkup. Wamp said Baker called him on Thursday, however, and that they had a good conversation.
Haslam said Thursday he has been "pleasantly surprised" by the amount of support he has received from people who supported other candidates in the primary. Haslam won easily over Wamp and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey although it was a hard-fought, mostly three-way contest for the Republican nomination.
"I know you'd say, 'Of course you would say that as a candidate about folks that helped Zach and Ron financially and politically across the state,'" Haslam said. "But I've been very pleasantly surprised by the reception, just to be frank."
The reconnection between Haslam and Wamp would be the most noteworthy development of the post-primary phase of the campaign on the Republican side. Wamp hit Haslam hard for not disclosing his income from the large family business, Pilot Corp., and said Haslam would have conflicts of interest if he were elected governor. The campaign took an especially negative turn in the final days of the primary, with Wamp airing negative ads calling Haslam a "billionaire oil man" and Haslam hitting back with an ad saying "enough is enough."
Wamp received 29 percent of the primary vote, Ramsey 22 percent.
Haslam and Ramsey have seen each other frequently since the primary, notably during the week of the recent NASCAR race at Bristol.
"I don't know what he's going to say or anything," Wamp said Thursday. "I wouldn't want to speculate on what the ask is, or what the conversation is, or anything."
Wamp participated in a unity gathering in Nashville two days after the primary to show support for Haslam, and he was asked Thursday if he can back the Republican nominee.
"Of course," he said. "I'm a Republican. He's the Republican nominee. There's been a closing of the ranks. I went to the unity event to show my support for the nominee, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see exactly what his plans and strategies are."
Wamp said he had been in his hometown of Chattanooga Wednesday as well as in Rhea County and Bradley County and heard Haslam on the radio.
"I listened to him on the radio intently to see exactly what his platform for the general election is and what his thinking is," Wamp said.
Wamp mentioned two particular issues still of interest to him -- early childhood reading and growing the defense sector in the state.
"These are ideas that need to be pursued to help our state be stronger, so I'm all ears as far as tomorrow's lunch is concerned on what he plans and if he needs me to help him or what his ask may be," Wamp said.
Wamp said when Haslam called he told the Knoxville mayor, "'You're going to be the governor.' He said, 'Let's not get the cart before the horse,' and I said, 'We won't do that, Bill, but you're going to be the governor,' and I really believe he's going to win comfortably."
Haslam faces Democratic nominee Mike McWherter on Nov. 2.
Wamp said he is still weighing his own options and has made no plans for his career. He said he may go into a trade association, potentially one corporation, or divide his time with multiple duties. He plans to meet Sept. 13 with a head-hunting firm with interested clients. He said several organizations have reached out to him under Rule 27 of the House, which doesn't allow direct negotiations about employment but preliminary conversations, saying a person has to be identified who can handle such discussions on his behalf under ethics rules.
Wamp said he had also been helping some of his supporters find work.
Haslam made a plea to a gathering of people Thursday in Franklin for those who had supported other candidates to join his campaign. He said he knows it's not easy for those who had backed his opponents.
"They've invested a lot of their time. It's hard to say, 'OK, we go on,' But 98 percent of the responses have been terrific," he said.
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