Former governor's son campaigns in Dyersburg

Mike McWherter, former governor Ned McWherter's son, introduces himself to members of the Morning Rotary Club at the Cozy Kitchen on Tuesday. He is running for governor of Tennessee and will face off against two other Democrats in the August primary.

A man with a familiar last name was making the rounds in Dyersburg earlier this week.

Mike McWherter is the son of former Tennessee governor Ned McWherter. He announced last year he would be running for the same office that his father held from 1987 to 1995.

He came to Dyersburg on Tuesday to speak to the Morning Rotary Club and went around downtown introducing himself to residents.

McWherter is set to face off against Kim McMillan, former Tennessee State House majority leader and former senior advisor to Gov. Phil Bredesen; and Jim Kyle, Tennessee State Senate minority leader, in the Democratic primary, which will be held in August.

He is the owner and operator of Central Distributors, an Anheuser-Busch distributing company, as well as chairman of First State Bank of Union City. He also serves on the board of directors for the Jackson Energy Authority.

During his talk to the Rotarians, McWherter told the group that he went to every county in the state on his father's campaign and felt it was important to do the same with his.

He gave a simple reason why he was running for governor.

"As you look across the landscape of Tennessee we have all seen thousands of jobs just literally disappear," said McWherter. "I think the next governor of this state is going to be somebody who puts job creation and maintenance front and center on the agenda."

McWherter said he understands what's happening in West Tennessee and feels the next governor should also.

"I think we need somebody in Nashville, Tennessee who understands the economy in West Tennessee and can be helpful up here," said McWherter.

He said his father, John Wilder and Jimmy Naifeh are no longer on the scene and that Rep. Craig Fitzhugh is doing a great job, but everyone else was pretty new.

He then told the story of how he was practicing law in Nashville, but couldn't ethically do it in the capital city of the state where his father was governor. So, he bought the distributorship almost 20 years ago when the opportunity presented itself.

McWherter ended his talk by telling about a recent debate he was the initial winner of between himself and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, Congressman Zach Wamp, and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam and some other candidates.

He said the poll had him winning the debate before the results were skewed.

"I think that says our message is on key with the people of Tennessee," said McWherter. "And I'm proud to say we have a campaign that is relating well."