NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov.-elect Marsha Blackburn filled the first three seats in her cabinet on Nov. 13, bringing in a new state finance chief while asking two of Gov. Bill Lee commissioners to stay on.
Todd Kaestner will lead the Department of Finance and Administration, the office that builds and manages the state budget. Kaestner once served on the Williamson County Commission and holds a seat on the Board of Regents until June 2028. His business background includes time as the top finance officer at Brookdale Senior Living, where he also oversaw corporate development as an executive vice president.
Andy Holt will remain agriculture commissioner. Lee put him in the job in October 2025 after he had worked as deputy commissioner and as an assistant commissioner over the department business development division. Holt also spent 10 years in the state House representing District 76. In announcing his reappointment, Blackburn pointed out that agriculture and forest products together make up the biggest slice of the state economy, at $103.8 billion.
Mark Ezell, tourism commissioner since Lee tapped him in January 2019, also keeps his post. The state says visitors spent a record $32.53 billion in Tennessee in 2025, up 27% from the year before, and that visitation has climbed 40.2% during his time leading the Department of Tourist Development. Blackburn said in her announcement that tourism is one of the state top economic engines.
Blackburn also named two lawyers to her senior staff. Russell Thomas, who most recently ran the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, will be chief legal counsel, and the commission assistant director now serves as its interim head. Ben Blackmon, chief counsel in Blackburn U.S. Senate office, becomes policy counsel.
Blackburn, who will be the first woman to serve as governor of Tennessee, takes office with an inauguration set for January 2027.
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Filed under: Nashville TN Politics News
