Latest / Breaking The Meta / The Reason Tennessee Stopped Voting | Lauren Pinkston for Governor
Transcript
- Breaking The Meta: Hello everyone and welcome to Breaking the Meta. name is Mike Winson. Today we are sitting down with Lauren Pinkston who is running for governor in the state of Tennessee. Hello Lauren, how are you doing today? Lauren Pinkston: Good, Mike. Thanks so much for talking to so many candidates right now. It's so good to see people who are learning how to practice their responsibility in the public square. Breaking The Meta: Yeah, well, I appreciate you being willing to run for office because that is something I wouldn't do. So I'll do what I'm good at, which is talking. So I will do that. ⁓ To start off, just because there are just so many amazing people running, would you mind giving us just a little background on who you are and what made you decide to run for governor in Tennessee? Lauren Pinkston: Well, I have spent the last 15 years in the counter trafficking field. So I'm a rural girl from Tennessee at heart. And then I went all over the world, lived in Asia, Africa, moved back to Tennessee where we're raising our four kids. And I came back to a state that I didn't recognize. Tennessee has traditionally been very purple, very moderate, very respected leaders at the national level. And we have just really lost the narrative here due to a super majority and a trifecta in the state of Tennessee. So I've got to be honest, I'm a researcher by trade. So my PhDs in community development, international development. But when I look at the numbers and the story of Tennessee voting, they do not align. So if you look at the numbers, it looks like Tennessee is a deeply red state. But the qualitative story behind that, The real story is that that's just not true. We're a non-voting state. We were dead last in the last midterm. And so I had to ask why. Why are people not voting? And it's because they're just really principled people who hate both of their options. And so they're not motivated to vote for someone who doesn't really represent them. And unfortunately, the super majority that we have has just continued to make this more pervasive. And I felt that... Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Mm. Lauren Pinkston: of all the races that were there for me to get into this year. This was the one that we could really tell that story well and capture the pride in Tennessee again. Breaking The Meta: you are running as an independent, goes along with ⁓ just from what you said before, goes along with this idea that most people in Tennessee don't like either of their choices. I've interacted with a lot of people who running in Tennessee and Kentucky. Could you give us kind of just an idea of why it is so different ⁓ places like Tennessee? and even Kentucky, you guys, I know you're different states, but in terms of how you interact in politics, you guys are very similar. How is it different? Because I'm looking at a lot of what you are running on, a lot ⁓ of the policies you're running on. ⁓ Many would consider them at least rather progressive policies, at least when you compare it to the people in your current trifecta in Tennessee. What is different about Tennessee than you'd get in, say, North Carolina or New York or even Florida? Lauren Pinkston: You know, what happens, Mike, is you've got people who are just good folks. I say that like they're good people, overwhelmingly people of faith who are very generous with their neighbors and want to be good neighbors. They're not looking to abandon their faith in the things that they vote for. And I think that this is where the Democratic Party has really lost a lot of people. because they've run on really fringe issues just like the Republican Party has. And so, you know, I, yeah, there are plenty of policies that I agree with with the Democratic Party. I also am a person of faith and there are some that just push that line a little too far for me, not in terms of me feeling like I want to reject people's human rights, but in the fact that I want to see people's faith and their rights to practice their faith, you know, protected as well. And so, There's a soft spot in my heart for conservative values because those were the values that raised me and those are the people that I know who have been so good to me and so supportive to me in the years that I was living abroad and the years that I was raising my kids. so, I think people are just looking for authentic leadership, someone willing to think critically about issues, someone willing to sit down and... make level-headed decisions and not just sign a bill away because that's what someone in Washington, DC told them to do. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Well, let's let's get a little just overarching view on Tennessee. As you have been walking around and talking to people throughout the state, what are the things that most people are talking to you about? What are the things that they need your help with? If you were governor of Tennessee? Lauren Pinkston: So our growth is quite unprecedented over the last half a decade. And we've watched Silicon Valley move out of California. these companies have moved to Texas, Tennessee, and Florida because we don't have a state income tax. And our property taxes are quite ⁓ good. So ⁓ there's a lot of interest to come here. The problem is that the businesses that have been courted here, they have not performed and they have not offered the jobs that they promised. Breaking The Meta: Mm. Lauren Pinkston: actually we had a report come out this week that 0 % job growth has happened in Tennessee over the last two years. And so you hear competing narratives. The conservative narrative is we're a business friendly state, look at us, it's great to be a business owner in Tennessee. But then you go and talk to Main Street businesses, you talk to people who are small business owners every day and they cannot handle the tariffs that have happened at the federal level. They can't handle the... the rent hikes on Main Street real estate and the infrastructure that has come at a cost to this growth. It's the taxpayers that are paying for it because no one is holding the businesses accountable to actually investing in water into roads and to schools. And so, you know, everyone feels that burn. They don't always know where it's coming from or why they're feeling it, but they're absolutely feeling it. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Well, speaking of accountability, one of the things that I think that I always ask every candidate because I think when it comes down to it, it's probably one of the most important issues cross the aisle is this idea of accountability or the lack thereof when it comes to our representatives. So what does accountability mean to you and what does being held accountable by the people of the state of Tennessee look like? Lauren Pinkston: It should not be a novel idea that we live in a representative democracy and that your leader should represent you. But if you are calling your representatives and senators right now, especially if they are a part of the supermajority, you either don't get an answer on the phone, you don't get a call or an email back. Or if you're like me, I was hung up on by my representative when I asked some questions around school safety and Breaking The Meta: Mm. Lauren Pinkston: He got really huffy with me and I asked if he was trying to intimidate me and then he hung up on me and I go to church with him. It was like, this is like, this is not representation, you know. ⁓ it was great. Yeah. Yeah. So fun. I just, know, if, we've lost, we've lost the narrative about what it means to truly represent people and to respect their tax dollars. mean, this is, this is just. Breaking The Meta: That must have been an interesting Sunday after. Lauren Pinkston: basic human decency respect of the hard work that people are doing and the way that we respect the dollars that they're paying to the government. So my promise to everyone in Tennessee is that on day one, we will use modern democracy tools. We will make sure that voter IDs are verified, but we will take all of the feedback that comes. from voters on issues because the constitution in Tennessee does not allow us to have many ballot initiatives and our state legislature has to approve ballot initiatives. And so they're passing bills around very contentious topics like our school vouchers that they just voted to double three million more dollars into this program. And no one got to vote on that as an issue in Tennessee. And so if we're not going to put it on a ballot as an initiative. Breaking The Meta: Mm. Lauren Pinkston: and you're not going to respond to taxpayers who are telling you overwhelmingly that they reject this legislation, then someone has to do something. And so on day one from the governor's office, we will deploy an accountability tool where we take that feedback, we chart it so you can see it as open source, you know, open source data right there. And I will send a weekly report to all 33 senators, 99 representatives from the governor's office to say, if you send a bill to my desk. and it does not align with the will of the people. You better have a really good reason for why I need to sign it or it's coming back to you. And I will use the bully pulpit all day long to defend the will of the people. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. I think a lot of people are starting to realize slowly, probably too slowly, the complicated nature of our government as a whole. You as the hopeful governor would be for the state of Tennessee that line really between Tennessee and Washington, D.C. What kind of stuff do you tell the people of Tennessee that you, like, how do you see yourself being different than the current governor? Or ⁓ how do you see yourself responding to what has been happening, let's just say, with this current administration over the past 14 months? How do you see yourself responding differently than the current governor has been responding? Lauren Pinkston: So I've watched how governors are responding to this administration across the country. And I will tell you that it is governors who have been holding the line for so many states across the union. ⁓ governors are very concerned about federal overreach in their states. so you see people doing a few different things. I'm not one who really loves ⁓ an executive order. OK, I don't think that those are long lasting and I don't think that that is an effective way to rule. But I will say that my posture as a leader is to bring people to the table and to disarm them. So we will be having regular meals together. I will be bringing a Republican and a Democrat to my residence to have dinner together and we will be humanizing one another, right? If the only moment that we are talking in Tennessee is on the floor, while we are ignoring each other or yelling at each other over legislation, then we've lost the ability to humanize one another and we cannot effectively write legislation. that's just from a posture of my leadership. That's one thing I'll say. When it comes to government overreach, you and I both know that that is very much happening. And so I see some on the opposite side from the Republicans in DC right now just. again, writing executive orders to block things, but there is a legal pathway to just burdening that overreach with so much daggone bureaucracy that, you know, there are ways to slow down that overreach that ⁓ actually can help protect the state even more effectively. Breaking The Meta: Mm-hmm. It's interesting. So you were talking about how faith is a big part of who you are, especially on a big part of a lot of the people of Tennessee. ⁓ I have grown up in the church my entire life as well. ⁓ I think. I'm going to be I'm going to be honest with you here. I. Lauren Pinkston: I love it. Breaking The Meta: As someone who goes to church every week, is part of worship teams, has been a part of every form of leadership humanly possible in a church, I struggle with Christians and the church right now. And not because I think Christianity by its very nature is bad, but because I think Christians have lost the plot when it comes to our place in society. And so I guess my question comes because not everybody in Tennessee is a Christian. There are many people in Tennessee right now that are afraid of the laws that have gotten passed in Tennessee or could get passed under any Republican, we'll say, at least at this point, Republican leadership. What is your message to to those people as someone who is a Christian, knowing that Christians across the country have been doing everything they can to endanger their safety. Lauren Pinkston: Well, thank you for sharing that. And I have felt very similar to you for so long. And my husband and I have been holding space for Christians who have felt so lost, where there's not a place for them to worship, where Christianity has become so tied to the American flag that we have forgotten whether we will. want to be Christians or whether we want to be Americans. And I think some people would have a hard time deciding if that was their two choices. I am so staunchly in defense of separation of church and state that it's not funny. I went yesterday to a Lao restaurant. I lived in Lao for five years. Well, pas a Lao rai. I just love being able to connect with others. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Yeah. Hehehehe Lauren Pinkston: And I will say that regardless of religion, whether you're a Buddhist, whether you're a Hindu, whether you are a Muslim, these cultures are all quite conservative in nature and very much appreciative of family values. And so it's not necessarily a Christian value that is driving my separation of church and state. It's my appreciation for how layered the belief systems of so many in our state are. We have the largest Kurdish population in Nashville outside of the Middle East. And you know, we forget to engage these citizens of our state because we are only comfortable in rooms that look like us. Those are the easy ones to reach. They're the easy ones to speak to. And man, that's... That's the opposite of what I want to do here. And I'll say too, you know, going even to Memphis and Shelby County and speaking with with Christians there who are people of color. They're like, I'm so sick of being pandered to as well. And the Democratic Party has left me and I, you know, they just expect me to vote Democrat because I'm black and that I don't appreciate that. They're not coming in talking to me and earning my trust. And so, you know, there are there are layers of of values that people hold and I want to make sure that people can express their beliefs and their faith in such a deep way that they can live out loud and be proud of the faith that they hold. Breaking The Meta: So let's assume that November 3rd comes along and we were talking about this before, the mile long list of people that are running in the state of Tennessee, ⁓ you win. So congratulations. ⁓ You are sworn in in January as the governor. What are the first things that you hope to do? What are the first steps you hope to take as governor? Lauren Pinkston: you Well, after I pick myself off of the floor and hug my kids and take them on vacation for a few days, they would probably want to go to the Great Wolf Lodge because they think that's the coolest place they've ever been in the whole world. I will be so excited to get to work. And the first thing we're going to do is to hold a special session. Well, ⁓ I would come into office right at the beginning of our general assembly, but we'll be setting the expectation that we have a serious conversation. Breaking The Meta: And take a week sleep for a week the Lauren Pinkston: around the amount of our budget that is going to our voucher system in Tennessee, we are putting money in the wrong places and it really needs to be pushed into early childhood education. The gaps start to really grow in the zero to five years of life. And so putting that investment into early childhood centers on site with employers is where I wanna start. I think that that's going to eventually put less pressure on our school system once kids get into kindergarten. And so that's. a huge priority for me. ⁓ Number two is looking at our loss of farmland. So we're losing 10 acres of farmland every minute, Mike, in Tennessee. And you and I both know that data centers are not slowing down. We are not in an oil rush. We are not in a gold rush. We are in a data rush. And this is where the money is. And so I've been looking at a lot of ⁓ really great land studies and technology that shows that we can put data centers underground. Breaking The Meta: No, unfortunately. Lauren Pinkston: and keep them cooler so we're using less water. But these also will offer the chance for generational farms that are closing to be able to pivot their business models. Put the data centers underground, then you trap the thermal heat that they emit and channel that back up to the top of the ground to heat greenhouses all year long. So we can actually supply agricultural products to local schools, to local markets, and then we just get to solve three problems on the same acre of land. So that's another priority for me. Breaking The Meta: Mm. That's really cool. One of the other issues, especially for, I'm sure, a lot of Tennesseans, just like with everyone else, is costs of health care, access to health care, especially in rural areas. And I'm sure that the loss of the ACA subsidies, as well as the other changes that are coming down the line, aren't going to help that in any way. What are ideas, what thoughts do you have to helping the rural areas of Tennessee, especially, but all of Tennessee just because costs are going up, with that, with the healthcare deserts, with the cost of healthcare in general. Lauren Pinkston: This is a major issue. The hospital that saved my life is no longer standing. It was leveled years ago. And I think about my sister now. having children in the same town where she's 30 minutes from the closest ER and how terrifying that is. We are absolutely going to have to grapple with this and we're not doing a good job of it. What's happening is a couple of things. So can I educate for just a second because this is a big part of my thought process. Number one, we have a really unsecure Medicaid system. Breaking The Meta: Go for it. Yeah. Lauren Pinkston: Thankfully, Tennessee's TennCare was not very much affected by the ACA, ⁓ not extending the ACA handouts, but I will say that ⁓ our system as it exists in Tennessee specifically is not connected to our AG's office or to our Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. And why does that matter? Because anyone can sign up to be a broker on the marketplace and there are so many bad actors. I think that this may be the largest criminal industry we are not talking about. Breaking The Meta: Mmm. Wow. Lauren Pinkston: And so I have moved my interests from, mean, I'm still concerned about human trafficking. That's been my work for the last 15 years, but I am very concerned about the trafficking of our health data and the ability for people to sell our health data over and over and over again. And so we're losing millions of dollars in Tennessee because of this. So moving that office into either the AG's office or the TBI is gonna be priority for me. Number two is that we are, running our healthcare system using ERs as primary care. And that is the most expensive way to run healthcare. And so if you are not investing in preventative primary healthcare, then we are again, just wasting dollars. And so my husband is a family practice doctor. I do feel very passionately about this, but we have got to do a better job of making sure that... Breaking The Meta: Hehehehe Lauren Pinkston: Everyone has access to a doctor, a primary care doctor. We need to be utilizing telehealth, especially in some of these rural areas of Tennessee, and then making sure that we have enough programs that are getting nurse practitioners and PAs into those primary care positions and utilizing our EMS to be able to reach people if they are in emergent situations. But there's so much we can do in a modern era around this, and we've got to focus on prevention. one case study I'll tell you is ⁓ a voter told me the other day that she has a rotator cuff issue and she cannot find any affordable insurance in the state and she doesn't qualify for TennCare. And so she is considering having a baby before she's ready just so that she can qualify for TennCare to get her rotator cuff issue dealt with. What? This is a failure. This is governmental failure. Breaking The Meta: Mm. Wow. Yes, absolutely. ⁓ And even going just a little bit further, on the health care, not on the health care, but in something that I think in many cases kind of sits with it is ⁓ access to also food. ⁓ There's a lot of food deserts, just like there's a lot of health care deserts going on. ⁓ Is that something that Tennessee is dealing with and what Lauren Pinkston: Hmm. Breaking The Meta: and what kind of ways do you hope to help the people of the state in terms of access to not just food in general, but good, healthy food that hopefully can allow us to not have to use the doctor's office quite as often. Lauren Pinkston: Mm hmm. So the first, if I can talk about failures of our government for the first, I will say that our economic districts have been forced to put everyone who is receiving food and food handouts on an app. And they have to request it there and then log it there. And we're talking about aging populations that don't have smartphones or who don't have Internet access where they live. So that's like they made a decision and then never talk to anyone. Breaking The Meta: Mmm. Lauren Pinkston: in any of our economic districts. So that drives me wild. So we do have people and churches are doing great things to be able to get food to people, but it's not organized. And so I don't think that the government can solve all of your problems, but I do think that it should be a really powerful facilitator of solving the problems. And so we need to do a better job of getting all of our nonprofits and our businesses in the room with the government to decide, okay, let's go into this. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Mm-hmm. Lauren Pinkston: I live in a county called Murray County, right? We're going into Murray County. We're going to assess where all the nonprofits are, where all the churches are. We're going to assess the businesses that are at the table. Every church doesn't need to have a food pantry. which church, two, three churches want to address food insecurity? Which two to three churches want to address our foster care crisis? Which two to three churches want to address homelessness, right? And we can just be more focused on how we're using those resources. That's a, again, it's a leadership. It's not something that we're going to solve through government grants and using more tax dollars for that. It just takes organizing people better. so, I mean, that's just step one in getting that process going. And you and I know as well, and everyone listening to this probably knows, but if you are food insecure, there's a likelihood that you have spent... ⁓ a lot of your time eating food that is shelf stable or is you know open up a can and and you've got nothing more than a hot plate and so we I had I grew up in a very very comfortable home and I had to learn how to cook brussels sprouts when I grew up because I you know nobody was Breaking The Meta: Mm-hmm. Lauren Pinkston: That wasn't, we covered everything in a can of cream of mushroom soup, know, so we were, you know, the education around how to prepare fresh produce is going to go hand in hand with this as well. Breaking The Meta: Yeah, I guess my question comes, and I think obviously it's great, anyone, whether it's a church or a nonprofit, I think organizing it out there to help people that need it ⁓ is an important thing. I guess my question goes to how can you as governor help the people in the state go from being food insecure so they need help from churches and nonprofits to being able to... help themselves and go out and get that food. Lauren Pinkston: Good. That's good. ⁓ So a few policies number one, we remove the tax on produce like the outside edges of your food and your grocery store. ⁓ That is a tax that we could remove immediately. Number two, we need to make sure that our benefit cliffs in our welfare system are addressed ⁓ because if you are get if you're working and you get a promotion and you are going to lose all of your health care, then you're just decent device, right? And so our system as it exists is not set up to actually give people dignified work. and a pathway to the middle class. And when it comes to the cost of food, our current governor has refused federal funding for SNAP programs across multiple counties in Tennessee. And so now our taxpayers are feeding kids in Arkansas and in North Carolina. And so that, you know, to me is just an absurd refusal of tax dollars that have already been paid by people in Tennessee. Breaking The Meta: So for everyone that has listened to everything that we have talked about and ⁓ what are one or two things that no matter what you would want them to come away with knowing about you and your campaign? Lauren Pinkston: I really want people to know that I am actually a true independent. I have never registered with either party in my entire life. I've voted across ballots and I have spent many hours researching candidates and making lists and notes of the people who are running because I want people to be in office who are true public servants, not politicians. And I see a very clear line between that. I want people to know that there is a larger issue at play here. besides where you land on the Second Amendment or where you land on abortion. We have a posture issue when it comes to our politics and our own George Washington did not want the United States to fall into a two-party system. And there's no modern democracy in the world like ours where we spend all of our time fighting and vilifying the other side rather than solving problems. It's 2026. We don't have time to fight anymore. because other countries are surpassing us every single day in their ability to solve problems and to solve them faster. And we have decided that it's more important to make everything about your political party, about your race, about your gender, rather than actually solving the systemic issues that exist in our country. And I fully reject that. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. For anyone that wants to learn more about you and support you, whether it's through volunteering or donations, where can they find you? Lauren Pinkston: So, Pinkston for TN, F-O-R-T-N is our website and we are very grassroots. When I tell you that we have mobilized 350 volunteers across the state just by word of mouth and people telling a friend about the campaign and coming onto the website and building out our processes from there. And so, We would love to have you jump in. We would love to have you invest. If you're in another state and you hear this, you're still allowed to invest in this campaign if you want to send a message to your politicians where you are as well. And so everything that we're doing is completely out of ⁓ human relationships and connections. And the best thing that you can do to get the word out here is to host something where you're calling conscious conversations. We're asking people to commit to having 10 or 15 people into their home. a group of friends, a book club, a small group, a ⁓ group from work, put your phone in a box for an hour and a half and just be present with each other. You hit play on the TV. We've got a YouTube link that we've recorded and I'm there in the room with you. It's already been recorded, but I will be there with you and guiding you through a conversation. And I just ask some very simple questions. What's keeping you up at night? What would make you proud to be from Tennessee five years from now? And we lay out our path to victory, make sure everyone is registered to vote, has the chance to invest in the campaign, and has the chance to host their own conversation. And we're looking to have over 500 of these between now and August. So ⁓ it's a great way to get involved and a great way to be a part of something more than just giving $5 or $50 to a campaign, but actually moving your feet to the practice of civil engagement. Breaking The Meta: Yeah. Yeah. Lauren, thank you so much for joining me and sitting down and letting us get to know more about you and what you hope to do for the state of Tennessee. I appreciate it. Lauren Pinkston: Yeah, thanks for having me. Thanks for doing these. Breaking The Meta: Yeah, and for everyone else that listened this far, thank you so very much. Please hit all those buttons down below. Like, subscribe, share, comment, all of it. It helps me continue to do what I'm doing, which is talk to amazing people like Lauren. But it also helps them, because as grassroots candidates, ⁓ they're not spending millions of dollars. They don't have millions of dollars to spend. So visibility and name recognition are done through social media and the visibility that comes from it. So please like. share all of the stuff that's necessary. ⁓ And for anyone that might be new to this podcast, please know that Breaking the Meta was designed to have hard conversations when necessary. to break the status quo and the idea that all people, no matter your race, religion, gender, or identity, deserve rights, respect, dignity, and safety. Again, Lauren, thank you so much for being here. For everyone else, I'll see you next time on Breaking the Meta. Bye, guys.