Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says voters nationally will make “a correction” in Tuesday’s midterm election results toward Republican and conservative policies.

“And when that happens we will continue as a state to be a beacon to the other states who will choose the direction we have taken,” Lee told several dozen people Saturday, Nov. 5, at the Collierville town square at the end of a 3-day campaign bus trip across the state.

“They look across America and there are things they see out there in America that they really don’t like. … They are seeing things that scare them,” Lee said of voters outside the state. “But they look to Tennessee and they see a place where they are reminded that America hasn’t lost their way.”

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“There are states that believe parents know best. There are states that believe religious liberty should be protected,” he said. “There are states that believe that fiscally conservative policies are the way to go.”

Lee plans another campaign bus trip across the state before the Tuesday election day where he faces a challenge from Democratic nominee for governor Dr. Jason Martin of Nashville.

He didn’t mention Martin in his remarks.

After the rally, Lee told The Daily Memphian the vote totals in the statewide race Tuesday will be an important indicator of conservative policies he has pushed in his first term.

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“An election helps confirm at least that you are going in the right direction,” he said. “The things we have advocated for — choice for parents, parent engagement in the education system, the fiscal management policy that we’ve had… What I think it says is that people believe those are the right things to do and that is what they want to continue.”

Martin has campaigned against those same policies arguing Lee is out of step with Tennesseans and that they have made the state an outlier.

There have been no debates during the campaign between Lee and Martin, although Martin has called for them.

The Collierville stop included Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Lt. Gov. and state Senate Speaker Randy McNally, U.S. Rep. David Kustoff of Germantown and District 31 state Senate Republican nominee Brent Taylor.

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It also included more than a dozen opponents of Amendment One — the proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution that would make the state’s “Right to Work” law part of the constitution.

The protesters stationed themselves outside Lee’s bus and around the town square’s gazebo with signs reading “Vote No on Amendment 1.”

The Lee campaign blocked the signs where it could with Lee campaign signs with neither side making it a physical confrontation.

“We are already a right to work state,” said Sweetrica Baker of the Memphis Central AFL-CIO Labor Council. “What do people do when they enshrine something? They protect it for a long time. It can never be changed. There is a reason why they want to enshrine this law. It’s unnecessary.”

Lee didn’t mention the amendment in his remarks to those at the rally. But said later he supports the amendment as a protection for workers.

“They should not be forced to join a union or pay union dues in order to have a job,” he said. “It’s a pro-worker amendment to make sure workers have the environment they choose.”

Baker said federal law already prevents unions from forcing workers to join a union or pay dues.

“The federal law protects folks from being forced to do anything. They cannot be forced to be a union member. They are protected by the law,” she said.

Lee touted the amendment as part of creating an environment in the state that is growing Tennessee’s economy.

Baker said the amendment would encourage companies to pay Tennessee workers less.

“Yeah, companies are coming here because we have cheap wages. …They can change the way Memphis looks,” she said. “If it passes in this state we are agreeing to generations having poverty wages.”