Blackburn appoints consulting group employees to governor's office transition team

NASHVILLE — Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn appointed more positions to her transition team, many of whom include current employees of Baker Group Strategies — the political consulting firm that has worked with Blackburn since her 2018 U.S. Senate campaign. In 2024, Blackburn faced a U.S. Senate Ethics Committee probe that sought to determine whether federal resources were being used on her political campaign, largely overseen by Baker Group Strategies. A source familiar with the investigation told Six Rivers Media the committee identified Ward Baker, the Baker Group's founder and CEO, as the central problem, and advised Blackburn to break ties with Baker. Blackburn tapped Baker Group's' Political Director Dylan Miller for the transition team's staff director. Miller had previously served as a field director for the 2020 Senate campaign for U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn. Baker Group political coordinators Jack Carnes and Rex Purgason will serve as Miller's deputies, while the Baker Group's Deputy Communications Director Todd Rapp will serve as the transition team's press secretary. Annie Rogers, an operations director with Baker Group, will serve in a similar capacity on the transition team. Katie Tully, a former communications assistant with the Baker Group, will serve as an executive assistant to McWhorter. Blackburn named Abigail Sigler, her campaign manager, to senior advisor over the transition effort. Sigler also worked on Blackburn's 2018 and 2022 campaigns for U.S. Senate. TRANSITION ADVISORY COMMITTEE At least two members of Blackburn's transition advisory committee are also donors to her gubernatorial campaign. Julie Beaman and her husband, Nashville automotive mogul Lee Beaman, contributed a combined $21,200 to Blackburn's campaign for governor in August of last year. President Donald Trump nominated Lee Beaman to the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Board of Directors, though his nomination was later blocked by U.S. Senate Democrats. Also on the advisory committee is former state Rep. Donna Barrett. She is married to Ronnie Barrett, CEO of Barrett Firearms, a prominent Middle Tennessee firearms manufacturer also located in Rutherford County. Ronnie and Donna Barrett each donated $2,650 to Blackburn's governor's campaign on Aug. 20 — the day before Lee and Julie Beaman's donations. Blackburn named Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter chair of the leadership transition advisory committee last week. Other members of the committee include Steve Brophy, Cato Johnson and Arch Trimble. Brophy served as Blackburn's chief of staff from 2003 to 2009, and currently is the vice president of public policy at Dollar General. Johnson is a former executive with Methodist Healthcare, and Trimble is the founder of a Chattanooga-based economic development consulting firm.