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David Hatley
🇺🇸 DAVID HATLEY: A CONSERVATIVE INDEPENDENT RUNNING FOR TENNESSEE GOVERNOR
If you’re a conservative Tennessee voter who hasn’t heard much about David Hatley, here are some of the positions he says he would bring to the Governor’s Office.
Hatley is running for governor as an Independent, but he describes himself as “a very conservative guy
🇺🇸 DAVID HATLEY: A CONSERVATIVE INDEPENDENT RUNNING FOR TENNESSEE GOVERNOR
If you’re a conservative Tennessee voter who hasn’t heard much about David Hatley, here are some of the positions he says he would bring to the Governor’s Office.
Hatley is running for governor as an Independent, but he describes himself as “a very conservative guy.” He says he chose not to run under a party banner because he doesn’t want pressure from a political party.
According to Hatley and his campaign platform:
🔴 PRO-LIFE: Hatley publicly identifies as pro-life and discusses his family’s personal experiences with adoption as part of the basis for that position.
🔴 SECOND AMENDMENT: Hatley supports gun rights and says Tennessee law should make lawful handgun carry by law-abiding adults the default, subject to specific restrictions.
🔴 IMMIGRATION & BORDER SECURITY: His platform calls for secure borders and enforcement against people in the country illegally who commit violent crimes.
🔴 WOMEN’S SPORTS: Hatley’s platform says women’s athletic teams and locker rooms should be based on biological sex.
🔴 CRIME: He proposes additional resources for crime labs, detectives, forensic scientists, TBI violent-crime investigations, witness protection and rural law enforcement.
🔴 GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY: Hatley has called for an elected state auditor to examine where Tennessee’s money is going.
🔴 CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION: Hatley emphasizes CTE and Tennessee’s workforce pipeline, pointing to his experience employing welders, machinists, technicians and other workers.
🔴 TENNESSEE MANUFACTURING: His campaign says Hatley has built nine companies, employs approximately 750 people and operates roughly 740,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Tennessee. Those are campaign-reported figures.
💰 AND HERE’S ONE OF THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCES:
Hatley says he is self-funding his campaign and not accepting political donations.
He told Tennessee Lookout that he was prepared to spend at least $7 million of his own money, saying he didn’t want donors influencing him.
His campaign has built its message around:
“Built, Not Bought.”
“No Party. No Donors. Just Tennessee.”
Hatley is an East Tennessee businessman and this is his first campaign for political office. He will appear on the November ballot as an Independent alongside Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn, Democratic nominee Jerri Green and other independent candidates.
There is also a significant part of Hatley’s history voters should know about: he has publicly discussed his 1998 felony bank-fraud conviction. Hatley presents his subsequent business career as a story of rebuilding his life after that conviction.