Tennessee State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says he sees little chance of state Representative Joe Carr upsetting U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander in next year's Republican primary.
Ramsey cites his own experience as a 2010 gubernatorial candidate in which he was unable to overcome a vast fundraising disadvantage in the Republican primary won by Bill Haslam. Carr last month abandoned his bid to oust incumbent U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais to instead challenge Alexander for the U.S. Senate.
Alexander's campaign had $3.1 million on hand through the first half of the year, while Carr had about $275,000 from his House race.