By ERIK SCHELZIG
Associated Press
NASHVILLE (AP) - Early
voting for Tennessee's Super Tuesday presidential primary is under way,
with Republican leaders lining up behind their respective choices for
the nomination.
Voters began casting ballots
Wednesday, and early voting runs through Feb. 28. Tennessee is among 10
states holding their presidential primaries March 6.
"We're going to have a race
here," said state Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney. "I think
we're going to have a strong showing, because people are concerned about
the direction of the country."
"It's a healthy thing for our party to have this debate," he said.
Gov. Bill Haslam and House
Speaker Beth Harwell are among a large number of state Republican
leaders backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"One thing this campaign has shown is that it's a very volatile Republican electorate right now," Haslam said.
"You've seen several people
come up and be the challenger," he said. "But I think the one consistent
has been that Romney has been the person they've been challenging."
Harwell said she's pleased with all the contenders in the GOP primary.
"Whoever comes out of the
Republican primary I'll be 100% behind," she said. "Obviously, I've
endorsed Mitt Romney, but that's not to say anything bad about any of
the others."
Former House Speaker Newt
Gingrich's state leadership team includes state Sen. Stacey Campfield of
Knoxville and Rep. Tony Shipley of Kingsport, while former U.S. Sen.
Rick Santorum's state effort is led by tea party activist Kay White of
Johnson City.
White said she's been working
on setting up a statewide network of volunteers and has been encouraged
by the number of college-age people interested in getting involved in
the Santorum campaign.
"This is very heartwarming for me and everybody that our young people are coming alive," she said.
Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey was
an early supporter of Rick Perry, but has declined to endorse any of the
remaining candidates since the Texas governor dropped out of the race.
"I think it will be between
Santorum and Romney now, I think Newt's pretty much out of it," Ramsey
said. "But I'll just make up my mind when I walk into the voting booth."
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