On this day in 1948 country music star and co-founder of Acuff-Rose Music publishing, Roy Acuff, born in Maynardville, Tennessee, announced in Knoxville that he would be willing to accept the nomination of the Republican party as its candidate for governor of Tennessee in the fall election.
Acuff was appearing in Knoxville on behalf of Hobart Atkins, who was seeking the Republican nomination for Tennessee’s 2nd congressional district. Acuff had been teasing his own run for a couple of months and had even been qualified for the August primary by “friends” of his, even though he told the press he wasn’t running because he had records to record and a Hollywood movie to shoot.
The reason for the talk of a run for the governor’s office was an incident that happened in 1943.
Roy Acuff had invited Tennessee Governor Prentice Cooper to be the guest of honor at an event to mark the nationwide premiere of the Grand Ole Opry’s Prince Albert show. The governor had no use for the invitation, though, publicly criticizing Acuff and that “disgraceful” music he played, saying it made Tennessee the “hillbilly capital of the United States.”
After a newspaper reporter reported the comments to Mr. Acuff the newsman suggested that maybe he, Acuff, should run for governor. At first Roy Acuff scoffed at the idea, but he soon warmed to it, leading to his winning the Republican nomination in 1948.
Roy Acuff went on to lose to the Democratic Party nominee, Gordon Browning, 67 % to 33 % that November, although he carried East Tennessee quite easily.