2024 Endorsements for Knox County Elections
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Knox County Commission
#1 Damon Rawls
#2 Courtney Durrett
#4 Shane Jackson
#5 S. Arthur Moore
#6 Daniel Greene
#8 Charles Chandler
#9 Matthew Park
Knox County Board of Education
#2 Jennifer Owen
#3 Patricia Fontenot-Ridley
#5 Terrye Whitaker
The Harvey Broome Group’s Political Committee has taken the time to dig deep and give members our best thinking about which candidates deserve your vote. This year, despite all the preemption laws, book bans and pro-gun legislation coming from our state legislature, here in Knox County we actually have some candidates of real integrity, and enough of them to create serious change in our local politics if we get them elected. We’ve enjoyed real success in the past using our endorsements to get pro-environment voices into office, but we’ll have to up our game now to support the ten candidates listed here. One measure we’re trying out is using text messages to inform our members about opportunities to join their campaigns. Expect a few messages from us about events in your district. Door knocking, phone banking and text parties are proven methods and campaign staff is putting them to use. Please join them. Use the contact information provided below to sign up and help these folks across the finish line. We’ll protect democracy here in Knox County in August, and then deal with state and country in November. Kent Minault, Chair of the Harvey Broome Group Political Committee
Knox County Commission
- District 1 -Damon Rawls is an activist and Black Business advocate who founded the Knoxville Black Business Directory. Along with deep experience in digital marketing, he brings equally deep ties in the Black community. He wants the County to up its game in bringing green jobs to the area to further both high wage employment and environmental sustainability. He’s well aware of the need to create more career opportunities to retain the people who graduate from our institutions of higher learning. Dasha Lundy is not seeking reelection for this seat and has endorsed Damon. He presents as a centrist advocating for racial justice through economic development, standing with Sam McKenzie and Harold Middlebrook. Here’s a short article and an edited video interview: https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/10/17/damon-rawls-running-for-knox-county-commission-district-1-seat/71208855007/. To volunteer, call: (865) 320-3680
- District 2 - Courtney Durrett won her seat on the Commission four years ago with support from our endorsement and her own friendly and energetic campaigning. Her first year on the commission was basically as a place holder, marginalized by the overwhelming Republican majority. None the less, she dove in and did the work of government and earned the respect of many of her colleagues. Two years ago, another election didn’t change the partisan balance, but it did create a strong female majority on the Commission. They all asked, why not have a woman as Chair? Surprisingly, they elected Courtney. She’s gradually melted the Republican ice with her competence and charm and is likely to show real statesmanship when the voters provide her with some friendlier colleagues. To volunteer, call: (865) 888-6398 or visit https://www.electcourtneydurrett.com/
- District 4 - Shane Jackson is nicely positioned to appeal to his West side district. He comes from banking, has been very active in local civic groups, and is a family man and veteran. His priorities in office are expanded access to parks and greenways, affordable and sustainable housing, and stronger public schools. We like his vigorous mind, his engaging personality and his background as an Eagle Scout and avid hiker. He favors interconnected greenways and getting the County to adopt the city’s greenhouse gas reduction goals. His opponent, Garrett Holt, was one of the Republicans running for City Council in the 2021 attempt to unseat the progressive majority. He ran against Gwen McKenzie who beat him handily. To volunteer for Shane, call: (865) 320-3680 or visit ShaneForKnox.com
- District 5 - Arthur Moore impressed us with his strong stands on expanding EV charging infrastructure and pushing public transit into the County. He’s also good at seeing how issues interconnect, for example, his insistence on reducing housing costs so people can live close to where they work and reduce their daily drive. He wants the County to become a green jobs hub, and wants environmental experts involved in all infrastructure planning. He’ll be particularly valuable in office because of his insights into growth and planning and his ideas about creating sustainable growth. His biggest motivation is to enable young graduates to get a house and live here. And he’s a doctor who clearly understands How asthma and heart disease develop from long-term exposure to particulate matter pollution. To volunteer, call: (423) 329-3922 or visit: https://www.facebook.com/MooreForKnox/
- District 6 - Daniel Greene has a background in banking like Shane Jackson. That’s complemented by his serving as a Knox Dem precinct chair. We like that he understands the field of battle. We also like his support for solar on schools. Like Jackson, he has a middle-of-the-road appeal with plenty of experience in getting things done. He was actively involved in the Advance Knox debate, cautiously favoring the measure, but with reservations. He supports the Town and Country model to preserve farmland. His environmental knowledge is not advanced, but he’s seriously committed to bringing environmental groups into the political process. He stands in opposition to the opacity of the current County administration. He’s a strong advocate for greenway integration. To volunteer, call: 865-223-3333 or visit: https://www.greeneforknox.com/about-daniel
- District 8 - Charles Chandler is a totally unique candidate. As a sixth generation Knoxvillan, he brings deep knowledge of sustainable living to his campaign. He lives the ecological life more than any candidate we’ve encountered. As a tree farmer, educator, engineer and historian, he brings an enormous set of tools to his campaign. And he’s just as solid in issues of racial and social justice as he is in climate change and regenerative agriculture. He brings a deep ecology voice into our political debate at just the right time. To volunteer, visit: https://www.chandlerforknox.com/ or call: (865) 789-5503 and let it go to voicemail.
- District 9 - We’re extremely enthusiastic about our friend, Matthew Park, running in South Knox’s District 9. Matthew is young, smart, and now an experienced candidate. He has an energetic ground game and has partnered with Shane Jackson in a fundraiser. He’s big on expanding KAT into the county and advocates for strong environmental and racial justice policies while maintaining an appeal to middle-of-the-road voters. He’s an experienced entrepreneur, openly gay, with a great campaign style, strong on ideas and communication skills. To volunteer, call: (865) 320-3680 or visit: https://www.matthewpark.com
Knox County Board of Education
- District 2 - Jennifer Owen is the one independent among our endorsees and has been the District 2 Rep on the School Board since 2016. It’s hardly news that schools have become a political battleground, and Owen is armed and ready for the fight. The school board now has a 5-4 advantage for conservatives, since our endorsee, Annabel Henley, narrowly lost her bid four years ago. We don’t want to lose again. We’ll miss Daniel Watson, who is retiring from office, but we have the candidates to win a progressive majority this year. Our endorsees Kat Bike and John Butler have been serving with skill and resolve, and we hope to provide them with friendly colleagues. If elected, Owen will clearly anchor the team and provide the depth of experience only a former teacher can offer. She clearly understands the deep damage that regressive policies like underfunding, book bans, racial disparities in discipline, vouchers, and anti-LGBTQ measures have wrought. We need her badly. Please volunteer at her website: https://owen4schools.com/ or email her at jennifer@owenwebs.com. Or call her: (865) 919-1998.
- District 3 - Patricia Fontenot-Ridley is another veteran teacher, and there just can’t be too many of them fighting for our schools. She takes a direct stand against the ESA Act (vouchers) and seeks office to advocate for fully funded schools. She sees the “teacher shortage” as a teacher retention shortage and wants to keep veteran teachers on the job to help transfer essential skills to newcomers. She has strong, nuanced opinions on book bans and teaching our history accurately, while still empowering parents. She has personal experience of how charter schools rob public schools of essential resources, and how they regularly underperform their public-school rivals. She believes in a truly balanced curriculum that contains arts, humanities AND STEM subjects. And she strongly favors having environmental subjects in the curriculum to help students become familiar with composting and recycling. Here’s her website: https://www.patforknoxschools.com/
- District 5 - Terrye Whitaker is another experienced teacher seeking office. She also has political experience as a precinct leader, an area coordinator and a campaign manager. Her biggest educational issue is the lack of credentialed teachers and trained support staff. She looks to advocate for regular budget increases to achieve competitive salaries and will connect with County Commissioners to make sure the KCS budget keeps up. She’s aware that currently we have Master Degreed librarians in every school, and that they are trained to ensure that reading materials are age-appropriate for each student they serve. The decision about age-appropriate reading should be in the hands of teachers, librarians and parents - not elected officials. She strongly supports teaching our true history - if Germany can teach about the rise of Hitler and the holocaust, then we can teach about slavery and Jim Crow. Her views on charter schools are nuanced, but she’s firm about making sure charter schools don’t take a penny from public schools. Her website: https://terryeforknoxschools.com/