RNC Chairman: 'Kent Williams betrayed every Republican in this state'

[Old Coot]

KINGSPORT — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele called out self-proclaimed Carter County Republican Kent Williams Saturday night for engineering his surprise election last January as Tennessee House speaker over House GOP Leader Jason Mumpower.

Steele’s sharp criticism of Williams drew approving applause in the crowd of about 600 Republicans who attended the Sullivan County Republican Party’s Reagan Day dinner at the MeadowView Marriott.

Williams got his and the votes of 49 House Democrats to secure his election as House speaker over Mumpower, a Bristol Republican.

Afterward, Tennessee Republican Party Chair Robin Smith stripped Williams of his Republican Party affiliation.

http://timesnews.net/article.php?id=9014045