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 In these challenging economic times, Bill Haslam stands out as a leader whose experience as a businessman and Mayor of Knoxville uniquely qualifies him to serve as the next Governor of Tennessee. As a lifetime Republican, Mayor Haslam understands the need for conservative leadership during these difficult times for our state.
Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, Bill was blessed with parents who instilled their strong faith and work ethic in their children. As a young man, Bill excelled in academics and sports and was a leader in student government. At thirteen, Bill got a job pumping gas at a family-owned service station, and quickly learned that running a small business took diligent hard work. When Bill was 16 years old, tragedy struck his family. The sudden, unexpected death of his mother marked a turning point in his young life. Bill’s dad pulled the family together and they leaned on each other and on their faith to get through the tough days.
Bill entered Emory University in 1976, and on the first day of class, met Crissy, a young woman from Memphis who would later become his wife. While attending college in Atlanta, Bill was a volunteer leader for Young Life, a Christian ministry that reaches out to adolescents. During the summers, Bill volunteered for the grassroots political campaigns of Howard Baker and Lamar Alexander and gained a deep understanding of the type of principled leadership needed to govern.
After graduating with a degree in History, Bill and Crissy married and moved to Knoxville, where Bill had agreed, at his father's urging, to work "for a couple of years" managing his family's small chain of gas stations. In the early years, Bill spent long days driving all over the country identifying, negotiating and purchasing good locations for new truck-stops. While lots of politicians talk about creating jobs—Bill Haslam has actually done it. When he first went to work for the company, Pilot Corporation had 800 employees; today the company has more than 14,000 employees in 39 states. Throughout his time at Pilot, Bill sustained the company's growth by allocating resources wisely, managing the business conservatively, working hard to increase sales and satisfy customers. It was here that Bill gained the essential hands-on knowledge that makes the chief executive officer of a complicated enterprise successful.
In 2003, at the urging of many friends, he ran successfully for Mayor of Knoxville. The skills he honed in the private sector have helped make him an extremely effective Mayor. Bill has balanced six consecutive city budgets and has insisted that city government focus on providing key services in an efficient manner. Through his conservative fiscal management, Knoxville has its lowest property tax rates in 50 years. Because Bill strongly believes that public officials must be accountable for their decisions, he makes a point to regularly visit neighborhoods on foot with a clipboard handy to take notes of citizens’ concerns. Two of Bill’s priorities as Mayor of Knoxville that he will continue to focus on as Governor are economic development and education reform. Having personally grown private businesses, he is uniquely qualified to recognize and promote government policies that encourage business growth and attract businesses to Tennessee. Bill also understands that providing parents and teachers with the resources they need to improve education will increase high school and college graduation rates, which will provide Tennessee with the type of educated workforce needed to attract new businesses to our state.
All this, along with his traditional values and commitment to preserving our 2nd Amendment rights, traditional marriage, and the protection of the unborn, uniquely qualifies Bill Haslam to serve as Governor of Tennessee.
Bill and his wife Crissy have been blessed with three children: Annie, Leigh and Will. Annie and Leigh are in college. Will and his wife Hannah live in Knoxville. For 26 years, Bill and Crissy have been members of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church and for 20 of those years Bill has served as an Elder.
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