School choice and religion in public life were some of the issues that divided Republican candidates for Tennessee state Senate District 2 from the lone Democratic contender this week. Proposals to limit types of immigration helped bring them together.
With six weeks before the Aug. 1 primary cuts the field vying to replace retiring state Sen. Art Swann in November from four to two, some of the candidates faced voter questions touching on national and Tennessee politics Wednesday, June 12, and Thursday, June 13.
The district the candidates hope to take up from Swann, R-Maryville, has transformed in recent years. A redrawn map means that District 2 no longer covers just Blount and Sevier counties; it’s shifted southwest. While it still encompasses Blount, it now stretches down to the Georgia state line, with its senator also representing Monroe, Polk and part of Bradley counties.
The new map means candidates have far more ground to cover in their campaigns.
Republicans Tom Hatcher and John Pullias on Wednesday attended a Blount Partnership campaign forum in Maryville meant for members of the business community, held ahead of the GOP primary. A Tellico Village property owners association hosted Hatcher, Pullias and Democrat Patti Young, along with candidates for state House District 21, in a forum in the Kahite neighborhood of the Vonore area Thursday.
State Rep. Bryan Richey, R-Maryville, who has also announced a run for the Senate seat, did not attend either forum, though organizers of both events told The Daily Times that he had been invited. Richey did not respond to a Friday call seeking comment by press time.
Schools
There are some clear differences in priorities among the candidates. Hatcher, Blount County Circuit Court Clerk since 1994, named affordable housing, infrastructure improvements and combatting “wokeness” in schools as among his priorities.
“Parents are talking about (how) they need control of what their children are being educated with, and I think that’s a big concern across the state,” he said Wednesday.
Pullias, a former owner of Chilhowee Inn and consultant, echoed Hatcher in some respects. Infrastructure and growth are both important to him, he said. On schools, he commented, “What’s in the best interest of the children?”
A recent plan from the office of Gov. Bill Lee to expand statewide a system of school vouchers proved controversial in Blount County and throughout Tennessee. The Maryville and Alcoa boards of education both explicitly opposed the proposal, while Blount’s school board — in conjunction with the county commission — rejected what it referenced as attempts to divert public funds from private schools. Though the voucher expansion died in the most recent legislative session, its ghost — and the prospect of its resurrection — prompted conversation among the District 2 candidates.
Pullias said of the voucher discussion, “Everybody quickly jumped to one side or the other, dug their heels in and then yelled at each other trying to defend their spot.”
“Who decides (what’s in a child’s best interest)? Is it the parents or is it the state? Now, I’m gonna yield on the side of parental rights,” he said. He asked a few other questions: “Why are we so concerned about this? Our local school systems — do they not have virtual veto power over a voucher? If you are providing the best education possible for the students in your district, what parent is gonna pull them out of that to give them a lesser education somewhere else?”
A school district’s inability to provide a quality education would merit addressing, he said.
Asked, like Pullias, about vouchers, Hatcher told the audience “I was called to the governor’s mansion, and I sure didn’t get his endorsement,” he said. He noted that most of the people he’d spoken to across the district were against expanding vouchers and said that he “want(ed) to see what’s in writing” before taking a vote.
Young, a former Maryville City Schools teacher, said Thursday that her stance on an expansion of school vouchers was simple: she opposed it. November will be Young’s second stab at state Senate; she was also a write-in candidate for the seat in 2020.
Religion
“Do you view the United States as a Christian country?” Bill Russell, a candidate for and current holder of a spot representing District 2 with the state GOP asked the three candidates Thursday. He asked: do you view moral issues through a Christian lens?
Pullias and Hatcher both said ‘yes.’
Hatcher commented, “My life is guided by what God’s word is.”
“At my office, we put the Ten Commandments out three months out of the year; we rotate them, in Blount County,” he said. Last year, his office started a Bible study, he said. “I was approached that I couldn’t do that, and we have passed through that.”
The Senate district is a Christian one, he said.
“I view everything through a Judeo-Christian perspective,” Pullias said. “That’s what I pursue everything on, from the standpoint of being a Christian.”
Young’s answer was: “I think my job is to serve every human being, whether they are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Black, (LGBTQ) — every single one.” She noted that she is the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Southern Baptist father. “(They) taught me that everybody is God’s children.”
Immigration
And in some areas, despite differences of experience and personal politics, candidates across parties said they agreed on contested questions. All agreed that there should be checks on undocumented immigration.
Hatcher commented consistently that he was disturbed by the volume and effects of undocumented immigration in Tennessee.
“As far as letting everybody come in, I’m against it,” Young said. But at the same time, she said, “We have to have Christian values.” In a phone interview with The Daily Times Friday, she reiterated both that she was “against open borders” and that refugee rights, specifically, should be respected.
During the immigration conversation, Pullias commented that he was marked as ineligible for social services when he traveled abroad. Doing so, he said, means those countries “can provide a good social safety net to their citizens.”
One absence
Hatcher, Pullias and Young all attended the forums open to them throughout the week, and all remarked that they were preparing for the campaign ahead of them.
Each of the three has taken in money to support their campaign. Campaign contributions to Hatcher totaled $31,650 in the first quarter of 2024; his ending balance for the quarter was over $80,000. For Pullias, first quarter contributions totaled $7,656.58, and he ended the quarter at $4,826.75. Contributions to Young over the first quarter amounted to $2,350 and she finished by reporting a balance of $1,378.18.
Richey received no contributions in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report from the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance. He started and ended the quarter with a $0 balance. During a May phone conversation with the newspaper, he said that he remained active in the race and planned to contest it.
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