Despite all the divisiveness coming out of our State Capitol —there are some things I think we can all agree on.

Hard work should be enough to build a good life and raise a family in Tennessee.

Housing feels further out of reach than it should, groceries costs are rising, paychecks don’t go as far as they used to while our leadership are focused on outrage issues instead of solving real problems.

That’s not leadership.

Leadership means listening, understanding, and making decisions that actually benefit other’s day to day lives. It means real representation. I’m asking you to send me to Nashville to give District 18 and Knox County a leader that listens.

  • Too many well-intended laws quietly raise the cost of housing, utilities, childcare, insurance, and everyday services.

    We already require fiscal notes to show how a bill impacts the state budget, we should also require a Family Cost Impact Review to show how it impacts your household budget.

    What I will do:

    • Require Cost-of-Living Impact Statements for major legislation and regulations

    • Measure impact on:

      • Housing costs

      • Utility bills

      • Childcare

      • Healthcare access

      • Transportation

    • Make findings public and easy to understand

    If a bill raises costs for Tennessee families, we deserve to know before it passes.

    Affordability should not be an afterthought.

  • Politicians love to talk about “inflation” and “economic growth.”

    Families experience the economy differently — through monthly bills.

    That’s why I support creating a Tennessee Family Budget Index that tracks:

    • Rent or mortgage

    • Groceries

    • Childcare

    • Healthcare

    • Utilities

    • Transportation

    This index would:

    • Guide state budget priorities

    • Evaluate whether new policies help or hurt affordability

    • Provide transparency to voters

    • Keep economic conversations grounded in reality

    If paychecks go up but family budgets get tighter, the economy isn’t working. We should measure what families feel — not just what looks good in a headline.

  • Eliminating the grocery sales tax will help families across our state save up to $400 a year.

    It’s time to focus in on helping hard working Tennesseans who need it most instead of the wealthy and big corporations when it comes to our tax policies.

  • During Special Session, I called on Governor Bill Lee to add a temporary emergency reduction of Tennessee’s gasoline tax to the ongoing special session agenda so the legislature can act quickly to provide relief for Tennesseans with prices climbing above $4 per gallon.

    Georgia enacted a 60-day suspension of its gas tax. Kentucky reduced its gas tax by 10 cents per gallon and froze a planned increase. Utah approved a temporary reduction. Indiana announced a gas tax holiday. Other states are moving to provide relief for working families.

    Tennessee should do the same.

  • Consumer protection shouldn’t just mean more rules. It should mean lower prices. The best consumer protection is a price people can afford.

    I will refocus Tennessee’s consumer protection efforts on:

    • Eliminating junk fees and hidden charges

    • Requiring transparent pricing

    • Removing unnecessary middlemen

    • Challenging anti-competitive local rules

    • Ending exclusive contracts that inflate prices

    Competition — not complexity — is what keeps prices affordable.

  • Housing is expensive because we don’t allow enough homes to be built.

    Childcare is expensive because supply is restricted.

    Healthcare costs rise when provider access is limited.

    When we block supply, prices go up. It’s that simple.

    I will support policies that:

    • Reward communities that increase housing supply

    • Reduce unnecessary zoning and permitting delays

    • Remove barriers to childcare expansion

    • Expand healthcare workforce access

    Tennessee should reward “yes” communities — not empower permanent “no.”

  • Other states — red and blue — have enacted income-targeted child and working family tax credits and direct rebates that put money back into the hands of families who need it most.

    Tennessee can do the same.

    I support:

    • A refundable Child Tax Credit targeted to middle- and lower-income families

    • Income-targeted rebates during periods of surplus

    • Renter relief through tax credits or deductions

    These policies:

    • Reward work and support parents

    • Reduce child poverty

    • Increase local economic activity

    This isn’t about growing government, it’s about strengthening families. When families have breathing room, communities thrive.

  • This platform is built on a simple principle:

    Affordability is a systems problem — and systems can be fixed.

    Together, these policies:

    • Lower costs without raising taxes

    • Increase supply instead of subsidizing scarcity

    • Expand opportunity without micromanagement

    • Support working families and small businesses

    • Replace political theater with measurable reform

    It’s about affordability for everyone in our state, both the left or right.

    It’s about restoring the idea that hard work should be enough to build a good life in Tennessee.

    And it’s about putting people ahead of politics again.

For too many families in Tennessee, life just costs too much. Rent keeps going up. Groceries cost more every week. Childcare feels out of reach. Insurance premiums rise. And no matter how hard people work, it feels harder to get ahead.

That tells me something important: This isn’t a work ethic problem. It’s a systems problem. And we can fix that.

My economic plan focuses on one goal: Lower the cost of living and expand opportunity without raising taxes. This is about affordability for everyone in the state, not just left or right.

As a father of two kids at Cedar Bluff Elementary School, I am running so that public education is invested in, not abandoned.

Public Education and the opportunities it provides have been the greatest tool of advancement for the average Tennessean. We need to work harder to improve our public education system and fix what is wrong with it.

This requires properly funding our schools, supporting our Educators, and taking a serious look at how our testing programs advance student performance, not just results. I will advocate for our tax dollars to have the highest impact for both the benefit of our students and for the improvement of our workforce across our state.

It’s beyond time to move the needle on common sense gun laws that keep Tennesseans safe. That means having a conversation about what specific safety measures should be enacted and returning to a normal place where we require and expect those with handguns to have passed a basic permit class.

I take this issue seriously. We need to get back to a place where all law-abiding Tennesseans are required to take their gun rights at least as seriously as their driving privileges. Anything less disregards our public safety and endangers our hard-working law enforcement.

Everyone deserves access to quality healthcare, but Tennessee’s current supermajority has given up on that idea. 

Instead, they have worked hard to create a two-tiered system. The fortunate have access to good hospitals and insurance coverage while decent, and affordable coverage is out of reach for working-class families who could be bankrupted by a major illness or injury.

Tennessee has missed out on over $22 billion of Federal funds from 2013 to 2022 by refusing to Expand Medicaid. That’s over $2 billion every year. I will advocate for the fiscally responsible decision to expand Medicaid. The federal tax dollars we all pay are helping other states expand their healthcare coverage, I will fight to return those dollars to our state. By doing so, we will create jobs, ensure the survival of our vital rural hospitals, and create a healthier Tennessee less dependent on emergency room visits for daily health issues.

Women’s reproductive rights aren’t under attack in Tennessee —  they’re gone. Deciding when to start a family is between a woman and her family, doctor, and faith. Not the government. I will take a stand and fight to reverse this disturbing trend and do everything I can through the power of my voice, legislation, and community involvement to stand up for Tennessee’s women.

Read more about my stance on Women’s Reproductive Right’s in my Opinion Piece in Knoxville Sentinel where I lay out why “as a moderate Democrat, I believe a woman should have the right to make decisions about her body in consultation with her doctor — not politicians.”

Transportation Is a Cost-of-Living Issue

Every minute spent sitting in traffic costs families money through wasted fuel, vehicle wear and tear, lost productivity, and time that can never be recovered. Transportation policy isn't just about roads—it's about affordability, public safety, economic opportunity, and quality of life.

Knox County’s growth has brought tremendous opportunity to our region, but our transportation infrastructure has not kept pace. Anyone who regularly drives Pellissippi Parkway, I-40, Alcoa Highway, Cedar Bluff Road, Papermill Road, or Kingston Pike knows the frustration of spending more time in traffic and less time with family.

For too long, East Tennessee's transportation needs have fallen behind our region's growth. As your State Representative, I will seek a seat on the House Transportation Committee so Knoxville has a strong advocate fighting for our transportation priorities in Nashville.

Regional Transportation Planning

  • Improve coordination between Knox and surrounding counties to better address regional commuting patterns and future growth.

Congestion Relief & Safety

  • Accelerate improvements to key corridors, interchanges, and bottlenecks along Pellissippi Parkway, I-40, and Alcoa Highway.

  • Prioritize safety improvements at high-crash locations.

  • Expand smart traffic management technologies that improve traffic flow without unnecessary spending.

Faster Incident Response

  • Implement rapid incident clearance programs that quickly remove accidents, disabled vehicles, and roadway hazards through better coordination among TDOT, law enforcement, emergency responders, and towing providers.

Accountability & Growth Planning

  • Increase transparency and public accountability for major transportation projects.

  • Require transportation impact assessments for major developments so infrastructure keeps pace with growth.

Freight & Infrastructure

  • Improve freight mobility while reducing conflicts between commercial trucking and local commuters.

  • Maintain and modernize existing roads, bridges, and interchanges before small problems become expensive ones.

My Commitment:

I'll fight for practical, data-driven transportation solutions that reduce congestion, improve safety, and support East Tennessee's continued growth. Because spending less time in traffic and more time with your family shouldn't be a partisan issue.

As a Representative, I will be committed to listening to constituents and working across the aisle on issues that directly affect our community. 

Supporting our Educational Institutions

Our state-funded educational institutions like the University of Tennessee, Tennessee College of Applied Technology, Pellissippi State, and Tennessee School for the Deaf are pillars in our community that deserve more support through an advocate in Nashville.

Creating a New Mental Health Hospital

East Tennessee is in need of a mental health hospital; the closest state-funded mental health institution is over 100 miles away. I intend to work in a bipartisan way to ensure folks in need of this help can receive it closer to home.

Traffic & Development

I remember when I moved to Knoxville, people said you could get anywhere you needed to be in about 15 minutes. I'm ready to work with the Senate and House Transportation Committees as well as TDOT to quickly increase signage on Alcoa Highway which will help drivers and local businesses and improve congestion relief on Northshore, Pellissipi Parkway, and I-40.