Age: 27
Occupation: Founding director, Lamp Post Group
Residence: Lookout Valley
Years lived in U.S. District 3: 27 years
Family: Married, first child on the way
Education: B.A., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, cum laude
Previous Public Office Experience: N/A
Church or Civic Involvement: Attend City Church; member, Red Bank Baptist Church; board member, AIM Center for Mental Health; board member, Lookout Valley Advisory Board; active with Young Life of Chattanooga
Achievements: CityScope “30 Under 30,” 2012 Leadership Chattanooga graduate, married up
What is the biggest challenge facing the office you are seeking, and how would you address it?
Washington has become dysfunctional due to excessive partisanship and a lack of intellectual honesty on both sides of the aisle. Over the last four years, the Congress has done virtually nothing to address our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges within Medicare and Social Security while ignoring the waste, fraud, and inefficiencies within government that would be unacceptable in a private business setting. I’m an independent-minded conservative committed to working across the aisle when possible to craft policy that will fix our broken government. I won’t posture and I won’t blame others. When we started Lamp Post Group, almost four years ago, our intention was to have a positive impact on Chattanooga. We have done that, and I will take the same attitude to Congress. If I’m elected, I won’t just participate by voting the party line, I will aggressively work to change Washington on your behalf.
Why should voters choose you?
A couple of months ago, I introduced my platform, an “Agenda of Innovation,” which laid out several innovative private sector solutions that would fix some of government’s biggest problems. My focus as a candidate is not to criticize the other political party or to pander to special interests, but to advocate solutions. The reason I am running is because our country is in trouble, my generation has the most at stake, and we need people to go to Washington and do what’s right. If the 3rd District sends me to Washington, I will have a generational opportunity to set a new, more respectful tone in Washington, and lead the Republican Party towards results and pragmatism. Not only will I work to represent this district with tenacity, but like Senator Corker, I will seek to have national impact by focusing on our nation’s challenges, not politics.