Independent
Tennessee
On the ballot · 2026
Key dates
Full four-year term
Firearms
“As governor I’d support rewriting that law so lawful handgun carry by law-abiding adults is the default, with restrictions that are specific, narrow, and consistent with Bruen, and I’d sign legislation codifying what the three-judge panel unanimously held in Hughes v. Lee.”
Energy & utilities
David Hatley would pause new approvals until Tennessee writes real rules, and ends the giveaways: no PILOTs, no abatements. At least half the new tax revenue a data center generates would go directly to cutting property taxes for homeowners in the county hosting it.
Crime & policing
David Hatley would make life without parole mandatory for an adult convicted of a second serious child sex offense committed after the first conviction became final.
Elections & campaigns
David Hatley would ban contributions from significant state contractors — the company, its owners, its senior officers, and the PACs they control — while they’re seeking or performing state work. And he’d end no-bid contracts outside documented emergencies, where speed is the point, but secrecy isn’t.
Education (K-12)
Getting there means putting full-time reading coaches inside the hundred lowest-performing elementary schools and leaving them there. Requiring every elementary teacher to demonstrate competency in the science of reading before licensure.
Independent
Tennessee
On the ballot · 2026
Key dates
Full four-year term
Firearms
“As governor I’d support rewriting that law so lawful handgun carry by law-abiding adults is the default, with restrictions that are specific, narrow, and consistent with Bruen, and I’d sign legislation codifying what the three-judge panel unanimously held in Hughes v. Lee.”
Energy & utilities
David Hatley would pause new approvals until Tennessee writes real rules, and ends the giveaways: no PILOTs, no abatements. At least half the new tax revenue a data center generates would go directly to cutting property taxes for homeowners in the county hosting it.
Crime & policing
David Hatley would make life without parole mandatory for an adult convicted of a second serious child sex offense committed after the first conviction became final.
Elections & campaigns
David Hatley would ban contributions from significant state contractors — the company, its owners, its senior officers, and the PACs they control — while they’re seeking or performing state work. And he’d end no-bid contracts outside documented emergencies, where speed is the point, but secrecy isn’t.
Education (K-12)
Getting there means putting full-time reading coaches inside the hundred lowest-performing elementary schools and leaving them there. Requiring every elementary teacher to demonstrate competency in the science of reading before licensure.
