On the record · Updated October 18, 2026

Bill Lee quotes

Tennessee governor

2 things Bill Lee said, verbatim, from October 3, 2026 to October 9, 2026, each linked to where it ran. Grouped by the questions at issue, with who supported, disputed, or qualified each one.

2stories

2statements

Oct 9latest entry

Positions

Tennessee and the United States should abolish the death penalty.

Disputes Oct 3

“the people of Tennessee have determined that the death penalty is the appropriate penalty for the most heinous crimes in the state.”

NPR Christa Pike survives two lethal doses and is now on a ventilator ›

Others on this question

Dick Durbin U.S. Senator (D-Ill.) Supports

“The death penalty is not a punishment reserved for the worst of the worst; it is one reserved for the poorest of the poor.”

Jerri Green Democratic candidate for Tennessee governor and public defender Supports

“The fact of the matter is: the death penalty has always been inhumane, expensive, and biased.”

Bill Lee on Courts & the law1

As printed Oct 9

“My responsibility is to uphold the sentences that Tennessee juries have handed down, even when it's difficult, and that is exactly what we intend to do in the days ahead,”

on the botched Christa Pike execution and whether Tennessee will try again

USA Today Christa Pike walking and eating again after botched Tennessee execution ›

All 146 people on the record on courts & the law ›

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