The Van Hilleary for U.S. Senate campaign said he won a straw poll victory Saturday night in Kingsport at the Sullivan County Reagan Day Memorial Dinner.
The Hilleary campaign said, "This straw poll victory, which comes just a little over a month after Hilleary entered the race, is just the latest indication that Hilleary's campaign has already caught up with fellow conservative Ed Bryant's campaign. Bryant has been an announced candidate all winter and spring."
"Sullivan County is very important in this primary and I'm gratified that our grass-roots support is still so strong," said former Congressman Hilleary, who told the dinner crowd that he is running "to make sure Tennessee has a sincere conservative as its next U.S. Senator."
Sullivan County is the sixth largest county in the Tennessee Republican primary and the third largest in East Tennessee.
The Hilleary campaign said, "In the final straw poll results, Hilleary nearly doubled the vote of moderate Mayor Bob Corker, who finished a distant third. Beth Harwell, who is just entering the race, finished fourth. Statewide, Hilleary leads Bryant by 13%, Corker by 23% and Harwell by 29% according to the only published scientific Republican poll."