Independent Candidates in Tennessee

The two most common political parties in the United States are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Some candidates for public office choose to run as an Independent: someone who doesn’t align with either of these major parties or other smaller third parties such as the Green Party. This week, Election Central examines the Tennessee governor’s race, where two independent candidates are having an interesting impact.  

What’s Happening in Tennessee? 

The Tennessee governor’s race is an exciting one to watch because this is the first time in eight years that the seat has been open. Tennessee is a strongly Republican state. A Democrat hasn’t won a statewide race there in nearly two decades. The Republican candidate for governor this year is U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn. But Tennessee Republican voters are not showing the same level of excitement about Blackburn as they did for the current governor, Bill Lee. In fact, Blackburn won the Republican primary recently with only 43 percent of the vote (it was a three-way race).  

Meanwhile, the candidate for the Democrats is Jerri Green, a Memphis City Councilmember. Because of the Democratic party’s recent history of weakness in the state, many do not predict that Green has a strong path to victory. The fact that neither major-party candidate in the race is very popular creates an opportunity for potential Independent candidates to gain a foothold.  

The Independent Candidates 

David Hatley is a businessman and author. He was born in rural Tennessee. In 1998, Hatley was convicted of felony bank fraud. But he then made different life choices and became the successful owner of several outdoor equipment stores.  

Hatley says he wants to run as an Independent because he does not want to answer to anyone but the voters. He plans to spend millions of dollars of his own money so that he doesn’t have to do any fundraising. Hatley’s platform aligns with traditional conservative values. He plans to crack down on crime and drugs, improve rural access to healthcare, and tighten up immigration laws.  

The other Independent candidate, Lauren Pinkston, is a former university professor. Her family has Tennessee roots going back seven generations. Pinkston is more moderate in her political beliefs than Hatley. Her position is that both the Republican and Democratic parties have strayed too far from what people really want, and that voters aren’t happy with either party. Her policies tend to lean a bit more to the Democratic side, such as repealing Tennessee’s private-school voucher program and emphasizing affordability for middle-class voters. 

Dig Deeper The power and influence of the two major political parties can make election choices feel limited to some voters who may differ from both parties in their personal and political beliefs. This is why many other Democratic countries have several major parties to choose from, not just two. Choose another democratic country and do some online research to find out how many major political parties it has. (Hint: Canada, Great Britain, and Denmark might be good places to start.)