Major Dem sets up exploratory committee for gubernatorial run

We may be mere months away from the 2008 presidential election, but the 2010 race for governor is already getting started

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

Kim McMillan

While speculation has been rampant over who may or may not run for governor in 2010, most political people in the state have been putting off serious conversation until after the November presidential election. But now it looks as though Democrats are going to have start talking a bit sooner.

Former Democratic Majority Leader Kim McMillan has announced she is forming an exploratory committee for the 2010 governor's race.

Raised in Knoxville, McMillan was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1994 representing Clarksville. She was re-elected five times and served as majority leader for four years, the first woman to hold the position.

She also served on the Finance, Ways & Means Committee, the Budget Subcommittee, the Judiciary Committee, the Government Operations Committee, the Calendar and Rules Committee and served as the chairperson of the House Ethics Committee and House Rules Committee.

After leaving the legislature in 2006, McMillan served as a senior advisor to Gov. Phil Bredesen before returning to Clarksville to serve as executive director of community and business relations for Austin Peay State University. She formerly practiced law at the Nashville law firm of Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry.

In a statement released to NashvillePost.com regarding the formation of an exploratory committee, McMillan said, "The people of Tennessee want good jobs, close to home. We want to send our kids to first-rate schools and we want to have safe neighborhoods. I think these expectations are reasonable. I've spent much of my life in leadership and public service. I believe I have the experience, the perspective, and the desire to move Tennessee forward."

Kim's husband of 20 years, Judge Larry McMillan, a native Clarksvillian, is currently Chancellor for the 19th Judicial District of Tennessee and was appointed by Bredesen. They have two children who attend the public schools in Clarksville; Katie, 16, and Ryan, 15.

As of now, the only other major Democrat openly pondering a gubernatorial run is U.S. Congressman Lincoln Davis. On the Republican side of the aisle, former U.S. Senator Bill Frist, and Congressman Marsha Blackburn and Zach Wamp are widely considered to be possible contenders.