Randy Boyd Reports Contributors From All 95 Tennessee Counties

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Randy Boyd, Republican candidate for governor, announced on Wednesday that his upcoming financial report due next week will show that in four months of campaigning, he has accumulated contributors in all 95 counties of the state. Boyd campaign CEO Chip Saltsman said this is an unprecedented early show of grassroots support - particularly for a first-time candidate.

“Randy Boyd did an outstanding job helping the private sector generate a record 50,000 jobs and $11 billion in new capital investment as our state commissioner of economic and community development - and he did an outstanding job working with Governor Haslam to create the Tennessee Promise college scholarship program and the Drive to 55 workforce initiative,” Mr.

Saltsman said.

“But the fact is, Randy is not a career politician, and he has never run for public office before. So it is unprecedented for any statewide candidate or elected official that I know of, particularly a first-time candidate, to have generated such deep statewide support so quickly - literally in every county in the state - as Randy has demonstrated in just four short months.”

Mr. Saltsman also reported Mr. Boyd has attracted a rapidly growing army of nearly 30,000 Facebook supporters since the beginning of the campaign on March 1.

To help manage and mobilize this level of grassroots support, Mr. Saltsman unveiled a new Randy Boyd for Governor campaign app for volunteers - now available on the campaign web site.

Mr. Saltsman said the new campaign app will help keep supporters up to date on the latest campaign news and events - and will encourage them to earn points as they complete volunteer activities in their local counties in direct support of the campaign.

“This is the kind of campaign operation you usually only see associated with the national presidential campaigns, but we are putting it to work here in Tennessee to help mobilize our growing grassroots support,“ Mr. Saltsman said. “We could not be more pleased with the progress we’ve made and where we are in just the first four months of the campaign.”

Although the Republican primary election for governor is more than a year away, Mr. Boyd has visited all 95 counties in the state - and he has actively campaigned in nearly 80 counties, and in most multiple times, since his announcement in March. Even on his summer vacation this week, Mr. Boyd and his wife Jenny, are traveling the state from Bristol to Memphis enjoying some of Tennessee’s top tourist attractions along the way.

Last week, Mr. Boyd announced the state legislative co-chairs for his campaign, and earlier announced the endorsement of two dozen East Tennessee mayors already working in support of his campaign, as well as the recent endorsement of Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett in Clarksville.

Mr. Boyd is the founder and chairman of Radio Systems Corporation, which is headquartered in Knoxville. First started out of the back of his van, the company today produces over 4,600 pet products under brand names such as Invisible Fence, PetSafe, and SportDOG, with more than 700 employees in seven countries and annual revenues of $400 million.

Mr. Boyd previously served in Governor Bill Haslam’s cabinet as the state Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, and earlier while serving as the Governor’s Special Advisor on Higher Education was the architect of the state’s Drive to 55 workforce development initiative, and the tnAchieves and Tennessee Promise scholarship programs to help more young people go to technical or community college tuition-free.

Mr. Boyd is also owner of Boyd Sports LLC, owner of the Tennessee Smokies Baseball team, the AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, and the Johnson City Cardinals, a rookie league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.

He and his wife Jenny have been married for 32 years and have two children, Harrison and Thomas, a daughter-in-law Lindsey, and a beloved dog, Oskar. They reside in Knoxville and are members of Erin Presbyterian Church.