With the finish line in sight, momentum seems to be brewing at the right time for Bill Lee.

Lee is currently vying for the Republican Party nomination for the governor of Tennessee and was greeted by a large turnout Saturday morning for a town hall held inside the Carter County Republican Party Headquarters in downtown Elizabethton.

It was an increase in turnout compared to previous stops in Elizabethton, and Lee was quick to thank the community and potential voters across the state for the momentum leading up to the Aug. 2 primary election.

“There’s a lot of momentum and a lot of electricity in the campaign,” Lee said. “We’ve been lucky to have great crowds at each of the campaign stops. It is a privilege to share my vision and to hear questions from folks all across the state. We’re closing out this campaign by doing 100 town halls and meeting thousands of people.”

Saturday’s event was just a little under a week removed from a recent poll by JMC Analytics and Polling that showed the conservative-natured Lee had a six-point lead over opponents.

“We started our campaign by going to 95 counties in 95 days and we’re wanting to end it this way with town halls to make sure we’re interacting one-on-one with the public,” Lee said. “What I think is happening right now is that people are realizing there is only one candidate that is a conservative and an outsider. Tennesseans want that as a leader and I think that’s why we’re seeing the surge of momentum.”

Lee also added another reason for the upswing in momentum has come from Tennesseans’ reaction to negative ads by his opponents, adding that he hasn’t and won’t go that route.

“It is everything that is wrong in politics,” Lee said about negative campaigning. “Tennesseans see right through it.”

During the town hall, the Middle Tennessee businessman fielded questions from the audience on a variety of topics, ranging from support for President Donald Trump to focus on rural communities in the state.

One of the key areas for the gubernatorial candidate is education, which includes putting more of a focus on vocational courses offered in high school. Lee added another facet of the idea that will help with growth is to encourage partnerships between businesses and schools to help a vocational-based workforce find jobs upon graduation.

Lee also talked about his time working with the Men of Valor organization, a ministry outreach for prisoners. He added time will go toward making sure the state is both smart on crime and tough on crime. The candidate added the goal is to be smarter about who goes in prison through alternative sentencing such as veterans courts, drug courts and mental health courts, while also being tough on drug traffickers and violent offenders. The State of Tennessee has a recidivism rate of 50%, while Men of Valor’s recidivism rate is 15%.  Partnerships for the initiative is key, Lee added, stressing the importance of working with nonprofit organizations to help accomplish the goal.

The candidate added he also supports school choice for residents while adding that he is against the state having sanctuary cities.

Lee also responded to questions about President Trump. He added that it would not be his place to criticize the president if elected and that Trump has been powerfully effective as a leader.

Lee added that Elizabethton was just one of the handful of other town halls he had on tap for Northeast Tennessee. Following the event, Lee told the Elizabethton Star he hopes to return to Carter County as governor. Visit www.billlee.com to learn more about the candidate.