East Tennessee, August 3, 2017– On Monday my dear friend Congressman Jimmy Duncan announced that he will not seek re-election to Congress. It has been an honor to watch him serve and lead our community over the years. Since his announcement I’ve been overwhelmed and humbled by the flood of contacts I’ve received from people encouraging me to fill the void that will be left by his departure. In light of this encouragement and after much prayer, today I am announcing the organization of a campaign for Tennessee’s Second Congressional District.

We live in serious times that require serious leadership. Health care is in critical condition, we’re in dire need of immigration reform, and our fiscal house is a disaster, leaving our children and grandchildren buried under a mountain of debt. While these challenges are daunting, they can be overcome through solid, consistent, and serious conservative leadership.

As a small businessman, I’ve experienced the catastrophic failure of Obamacare on many levels. I am determined to see it repealed and, once it’s gone, I promise to do everything in my power to ensure that our healthcare is never again taken hostage by the federal government.

33 years of marriage, 35 years spent earning the trust of thousands of customers, and 11 years spent serving the people of the 21st District in the Tennessee House of Representatives have taught me the value of consistently applying conservative principles in every area of life.

Anyone can talk like a conservative. What we need is someone who’s going to act like one. We don’t need more empty rhetoric. DC is filled with enough hot air already. Nor do we need politicians who have little or no experience building anything of substance in the real world. DC is already loaded with those, too. What we need now is solid, serious conservative leadership and character that’s been shaped and tested through real world experience.

When a presumed candidate publicly speculates about “which office to run for next”, they model an attitude that most hard working Tennesseans find repugnant. We don’t need another politician looking for the next place to land in a career loaded with political experience but lacking any private sector accomplishment. We don’t need another smooth political entertainer. We need a tried, tested, and true business leader with real world accomplishments.

Having built a business over 35 years of long days filled with hard work that began well before sunrise, I understand what it means to pour blood, sweat, and tears into a mission that lives or dies by how well it serves others. Having had to dive into that work at an early age in order to provide for my family, I understand what it means to sacrifice ease, comfort, and short-term goals for the benefit, security, and prosperity of others. Having been blessed by God with a wife of 33 years and three children to raise through often lean, hard times, I appreciate the necessity of healthy families to our culture.

I enter this race inspired by a passion to help secure a better, brighter future for the people, families, and businesses of East Tennessee.

I look forward to the campaign ahead and the opportunity to fight for a vision that celebrates the values of the hard working people who make East Tennessee great.