NASHVILLE (AP) — Businessman Bill Lee has hired former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney to run his gubernatorial campaign.
Lee also announced that Tony Niknejad will serve as policy director, Caroline Davidson will join the campaign's finance team and that Majority Strategies will run the campaign's direct mail efforts.
Devaney oversaw vast Republican gains under his chairmanship of the state party, which ran from 2009 to 2015. He left the positon to become executive director of the Chattanooga-based Children's Nutrition Program of Haiti.
Lee raised about $1.4 million for his campaign through the first half of the year and matched that amount with family money. He is the chairman of Lee Co., which provides plumbing, electrical and HVAC services for residential, business and government customers.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam is term limited.