NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican gubernatorial candidate Diane Black is being deposed in a lawsuit related to a television ad that ran in her first campaign for Congress.
Black narrowly won the GOP nomination for the 6th Congressional District seat in 2010 over tea party-styled Lou Ann Zelenik and state Sen. Jim Tracy. In that race, Zelenik ran TV ads criticizing Black for state Senate votes that provided $1 million in state contracts to Aegis Sciences, the drug testing company run by her husband.
Aegis sued Zelenik for defamation, but a judge dismissed the case and a state appeals court later upheld the ruling. Now Zelenik is suing for malice and willful intent.
Black was scheduled to be deposed Tuesday. Her husband stepped down as head of Aegis last year.