Loading this candidate’s profile from the FEC filings and campaign records.
Where They Stand is a nonpartisan guide to everyone running for Congress: their money, their own words and how incumbents voted. Find your ballot →
Candidates › TN-02 race › 2025–2026
Michaela Barnett
D Democratic nominee for U.S. House, TN-02
Has not served in Congress
- On the ballot
- Lost the general electionNov 3, 2026 · 125,643 votes (44.0%) · 2 of 2
- Where to vote
- Find your polling place (opens in a new tab) · More ways to vote
- Top priorities
- An Economy that Works for All
- Healthcare Focused on People, Not Profits
- A Government that Actually Represents Us
- Building Better Infrastructure
- What are Michaela's other key priorities when she gets to Congress?
- Money
- $717.8K raised, $587.6K spent, $130.3K cash on hand (through Oct 14, 2026). Where it comes from
- Who gives
- 35% of individual money from donors at $200 or less · 93% from Tennessee
- Outside groups
- $10 supporting Barnett
14 priorities from michaelafortennessee.com, in the order they are listed there. Every heading and the text under it is copied exactly, as one passage for each page it is from, and links to that place on the page; hover a source to see which passage it opens.
Working hard should get you ahead, not put you behind.
A successful future for our workforce, our economy, and our country means passing legislation that supports workers, families, and innovation, not just the already-wealthy.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues
As an entrepreneur, innovator, and jobs-creator, I believe that East Tennesseans should have access to abundant, good jobs that contribute to our society, economy, and create financial stability for workers. We live in the richest country in the history of the world, but 67% of workers still live paycheck to paycheck.
The cost of living – from housing to groceries to healthcare – has skyrocketed, but our wages have not kept up. A working mom in Lenoir City should never have to decide between paying their rent and feeding their kids. A Grainger County farmer should never have to live in fear that a medical event will bankrupt them. A family in Knoxville should never have to leave their hometown because they've been priced out.
East Tennessee is home to a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation, and hard work. But short-sighted, billionaire-backed policies mean that we're losing thousands of manufacturing jobs, small businesses are hurting from the President's trade war, and union membership is half of the U.S. average, and on the decline. Our farmers are struggling with the loss of their biggest markets due to Trump's ongoing trade war.
Instead of helping hard-working East Tennesseans get ahead, America’s wealth is accumulating amongst the ultra-rich.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/an-economy-that-works-for-all at this heading)
- Secure federal appropriations for workforce development and job training programs that bring high-paying jobs back to East Tennessee
- Fight for East Tennessee’s share of infrastructure dollars to invest in much-needed infrastructure projects across East Tennessee while expanding apprenticeship and trade school opportunities so that local workers can build their own communities and make a good living doing it
- Cosponsor and vote for a federal minimum wage increase – pushing to raise the floor to at least $15/hour with phased increases so workers can afford to live and small businesses can plan ahead
- Hold corporations accountable for violating labor laws and anti-trust practices. When corporations break the law to make a quick buck for their shareholders, they need to face justice just like the rest of us
- Champion legislation to make America lead R&D again: I’ll support increased federal investment in STEM education, basic and applied research, national labs, and emerging technology
- Advocate for public-private manufacturing partnerships: I’ll work to bring manufacturing grants and tax incentives to East Tennessee businesses that create quality local jobs and lower costs for consumers
- Push for robust implementation and additional funding to grow domestic semiconductor production, protect national security, create skilled jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign supply chains
- Cosponsor legislation to close billionaire tax loopholes and end carried interest deductions, crack down on offshore sheltering, and establish a minimum tax on extreme wealth so the ultra-rich pay what working Tennesseans already do
- Expand and fund national service programs to allow for Americans to give back to their country and their communities
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/an-economy-that-works-for-all
A healthcare system’s success should be measured by how many patients it heals, not how much profit it generates for its shareholders.
Quality healthcare should be affordable and accessible to everyone who needs it.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues
Instead, we are facing a healthcare crisis in our country that will only get worse. There are millions of Americans who can't afford to pay for basic healthcare needs, our medical workforce is shrinking, and our population is aging. Tennessee ranks 45th in the nation in terms of life expectancy, and has the highest maternal mortality rate of any state.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) kicked millions of Americans off of insurance that they could barely afford, and threatens to close rural hospitals across the country, including 9 in Tennessee.
Insurance companies and big pharma continue to take advantage of those most in need, increasing consumer costs and denying care while posting record profits. This is unacceptable.
While these problems affect all of us, these impacts are amplified in the rural and low-income communities that make up East Tennessee. Here, our medical workforce continues to shrink and care shortages emerge as healthcare professionals face rising costs and stagnant reimbursements from insurance companies. At the same time, more than 11% of the district is uninsured since the average 60 year old who paid $445 a month last year for insurance is now facing a monthly cost of $1510.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/healthcare-focused-on-people-not-profits at this heading)
- Rein in insurance company abuses by requiring insurers to spend more of every premium dollar on actual patient care and health outcomes, penalizing companies that routinely deny valid claims, and support antitrust action to break up corporate healthcare monopolies that dominate the market and post record profits while people go without care
- Work to restore and expand the ACA premium tax credit to make our current healthcare options affordable while ensuring that insurance companies aren’t taking advantage of government dollars
- Advocate for a universal healthcare option, while preserving your freedom to purchase additional insurance coverage
- Champion drug price caps by building on the IRA's Medicare negotiation framework to extend hard price caps to insulin, cancer drugs, and other essential medications for all Americans, not just seniors
- Empower Medicaid to negotiate drug prices to directly lower your costs for your medications
- Fight to lift the cap on federally funded medical residencies by supporting the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act which will add thousands of new residency slots annually and address the physician shortage before it becomes a full collapse
- Draw more medical professionals to our region by increasing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates in rural areas
- Increase telehealth availability and coverage
- Fund community-based health programs so they can solve the biggest problems in their areas
- Support evidence-based substance abuse treatment to address the opioid crisis in our communities
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/healthcare-focused-on-people-not-profits
We live in a representative democracy – yet so many of us don’t feel represented. Because we aren’t.
The system is rigged because our elected officials are bought off by corporate interests. If we are going to solve any of the crises we face, we have to fight corruption and fix what’s broken in our government.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues
Our government is broken.
I understand why so many people don’t trust that our government is working in our best interests. Because in so many cases, it isn’t. The system is rigged against us, which is why I’m focused on reforming our government so we can reclaim our power.
Campaign finance laws make it so corporations and wealthy individuals can spend without limit on our elections.
Members of Congress get rich from trading stocks while their constituents at home struggle.
Rampant gerrymandering lets politicians choose their voters instead of the other way around.
If we are going to solve any of the crises we face – access to affordable healthcare and housing, ensuring that AI doesn’t take all of our jobs, protecting our environment, and so many more – we have to fix what’s broken in our government.
Every other fight we need to win depends on having a government that actually works for the people.
That's why government reform is at the top of my agenda.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/a-government-that-actually-represents-us at this heading)
- Limit political spending by massive corporations
- A constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and restore power to the people
- End partisan gerrymandering by requiring independent redistricting commissions, ensuring free and fair elections where every vote counts equally
- Ban congressional stock trading
- Establish term limits for members of Congress
- Increase fair representation by uncapping the House
- Institute a lobbying moratorium or ban for members of Congress after they’ve left office
- Set reasonable age limits for members of Congress, President, and Vice President
- Institute term limits and a binding Code of Judicial Ethics for the Supreme Court
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/a-government-that-actually-represents-us
We send federal tax dollars to Washington. We deserve a Representative who will fight to bring those dollars home and invest in our region.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues
I understand why everyone wants to move to East Tennessee.
We're blessed with beautiful mountains, culture, and community, and for a long time we were an affordable place to work, live, and raise a family. I also understand why many East Tennesseans don’t want more people to move here. I may have a PhD in Civil Engineering, but you don’t need a doctoral degree to see that our infrastructure has not kept up with our community’s growth – and that is making everyone’s lives harder.
According to Tennessee's own infrastructure inventory, the counties that make up our district face nearly $7 billion in infrastructure needs over the next five years. But statewide, two-thirds of identified needs don’t have an identified funding source. Traffic is worse than ever. Our housing shortage is driving up costs and pushing families out of their hometown.
Our roads and bridges need more than $3 billion in investments. Our schools need more than $300 million in renovations and new construction, not to mention reliable internet access. Our water and wastewater systems need around $450 million in repairs and upgrades. In some of our rural communities, some East Tennesseans still don’t have clean drinking water in their homes.
What I’ll work for in Congress to give East Tennesseans the quality of life they deserve:
- Fund our most critical road and bridge projects by using my engineering background and committee work to direct federal dollars towards critical road and bridge repairs
- Push for federal incentives that reduce red tape in existing urban and suburban areas so that the market can respond to our housing shortage before more families are priced out while protecting our rural areas and farmland
- Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) to increase the number of affordable units built in existing communities while adding criteria to prevent overdeveloping the farmland and green spaces that make East Tennessee worth living in
- Fight for clean water funding for the upgrades our counties need, so no East Tennessean has to wonder whether the water coming out of their tap is safe
- Close the broadband gap in rural communities by advocating for full implementation of BEAD program funding and pushing for accountability so that federal broadband dollars actually reach the rural corners of our district that are still waiting for reliable internet access
- Invest in vocational and trades education by working to secure federal career and technical education (CTE) funding for programs that will train the construction and energy workforce our region needs to build its own future
- Advocate for federal transit grants to add bus routes and advance regional rail projects that connect workers to jobs without adding to our traffic crisis
- Support legislation that directs clean energy tax credits, grants, and manufacturing incentives to East Tennessee to bring clean energy investment and jobs to our region while building on our region's existing strengths in energy production
- Push for federal education infrastructure dollars to address the $330 million backlog in school renovations and new construction projects across our district, and make sure every classroom has the technology students need to compete
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/building-better-infrastructure
East Tennessee is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and we must protect our mountains, rivers, skies, and farmland from exploitative corporate interests.
But corporate polluters care more about their profits than protecting the places they do business in. They leave our communities to deal with dirty air, contaminated water, and the economic fallout of climate change.
We don't have to choose between a clean, healthy environment and an economy that works for the American people – that's a binary that only serves corporate profits, not people.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/protecting-our-environment at this heading)
- Hold corporations accountable for the pollution that they and their products cause
- Fund vocational training for new workers and transitioning industries
- Incentivize clean energy growth and investment in East Tennessee
- Fight for appropriations that invest in solar, wind, battery storage, and advanced nuclear in East Tennessee
- Bring good paying clean energy jobs to the region through grants and tax credits tied to creating union jobs
- Protect East Tennesseans from rising utilities bills caused by AI data centers
- Set federal clean energy targets to ensure that future generations can enjoy our beautiful home
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/protecting-our-environment
Every American should have access to housing that they can afford. The United States has a 4.7 million housing unit shortage, and families in East Tennessee are being priced out of their hometowns. Young people can't afford to buy their first home, seniors are losing their housing, and working families are spending more than half their income on rent.
We are facing a massive housing crisis, driving up rent and home prices, and pushing people out of their homes and out of our communities.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/your-issue-title-here at this heading)
- Reduce barriers to housing construction by modernizing land use and zoning laws
- Lower the cost to building low income housing projects
- Invest in our construction workforce through vocational training programs
- Fund innovative community projects to build better homes faster
- Support rural affordable housing programs
- Expand the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to build more affordable units
- Get private equity out of the housing market by capping how many residential units corporations and foreign investors can own
Housing is a human right, not a commodity for Wall Street to manipulate. When families have stable, affordable housing, entire communities thrive.
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/your-issue-title-here
Every person deserves the freedom to make decisions about if, when, and how to grow their families without interference from politicians. I believe in the value of life, and that new parents deserve to be supported, not ignored, while they raise their children.
Right now, Tennessee has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country, medical providers are fleeing our state, and politicians are trying to control our bodies.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/reproductive-freedom at this heading)
- Restore and protect the right to abortion
- Defend access to contraception and fertility treatment
- Rebuild and modernize our maternal healthcare infrastructure
- Fund research to identify best practices in caring for pregnant women
- Support paid parental leave so parents don’t have to choose between financial security and raising children
- Expand access to quality, affordable childcare programs in East Tennessee so parents can work without choosing between their careers and their children
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/reproductive-freedom
While gun rights are a highly politicized issue, I believe in common-sense, evidence-driven gun policy. I am committed to protecting our communities from gun violence, while preserving 2nd Amendment rights.
Still, today firearms are the leading cause of death for children and teenagers. Tennessee has the 6th highest gun death rate in the country. One Tennessean is killed by a gun every 6 hours. This is 59% higher than the national average.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/common-sense-gun-control at this heading)
- Fund research on gun violence prevention strategies to help our government and our communities make evidence-based decisions on how to protect our country and ourselves
- Support bipartisan legislation to enhance background checks, protecting our communities by making sure that dangerous individuals do not get access to firearms
- Continuing to listen to gun owners and gun safety experts to learn about your needs and experiences to solve this crisis in our communities without infringing on your 2nd Amendment rights
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/common-sense-gun-control
Our Tennessee Volunteers, our nation’s veterans, are NOT expendable. We must serve those who put their lives on the line to protect us.
Right now, too many of our service members face an uphill battle when they come home. They're dealing with PTSD, physical injuries, and the challenge of translating military skills into civilian careers – often without the support system they need.
We shouldn't put our soldiers in harm's way without a clear mission and exit strategy, and we owe them comprehensive support when they return.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/serving-those-who-have-served-us at this heading)
- Increase VA funding, ensuring veterans get the care they need and deserve
- Fully fund veteran mental health and suicide prevention programs
- Help veterans involved in the criminal justice system get the resources they need
- Provide job training and job protections for veterans to help them get and stay employed
- Ensure that veterans and their families can afford educational opportunities that they choose
- End authorizations for endless foreign wars that put service members in harm's way
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/serving-those-who-have-served-us
Every American deserves the basic rights and protections enshrined in our Constitution without discrimination. Everyone should have access to the opportunity to build careers, raise families, and contribute to their communities in the same ways.
Unfortunately, the Trump administration is rolling back protections, targeting transgender youth, and emboldening discrimination in every corner of our society. In East Tennessee, our LGBTQ+ neighbors are being told they don't deserve the basic rights and protections enshrined in our Constitution.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/lgbtqia-rights at this heading)
- Eradicate discrimination in law, employment, housing, schools, adoption, and the tax code against LGBTQIA+ individuals
- Ban the harmful practice of conversion therapy
- Dedicate suicide-prevention resources to the LGBTQIA+ community
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/lgbtqia-rights
After a lifetime of hard work, every person deserves to retire with financial security and peace of mind.
Right now, we have seniors choosing between groceries and prescription medications. We have 75-year-olds working at grocery stores not because they want to stay busy, but because they can't afford to live on savings and Social Security alone.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/aging-with-dignity at this heading)
- Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices
- Cap out-of-pocket costs for medications for seniors
- Prevent Social Security from going bankrupt by making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes and removing the social security income cap
- Ensure that all Americans have access to health insurance they can afford
- Bring back and increase funding for senior meal programs, transportation services, and home healthcare
- Fight against Social Security privatization and cuts
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/aging-with-dignity
East Tennessee’s resources, from water to land to electricity, should benefit our communities, not billionaires and their massive corporations.
I will fight to protect our economy, our local infrastructure, and our environment.
Let's be clear about what we're not talking about: East Tennessee already has data centers that serve as normal IT infrastructure, keeping patient records safe for area hospitals, transactions secure for local banks, and storing records for regional companies. These centers that use about as much electricity as large grocery stores and employ our neighbors aren’t the problem.
What I am focused on: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/putting-safeguards-on-ai at this heading)
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution should serve our entire economy, not just the richest among us. AI can bring innovation and increase productivity across sectors. But AI job displacement now and in the future is a real risk. This would put hard-working people out of jobs, while sending even more profits to the ultra-rich.
AI also relies on data centers that strain our power grids, increase our utility rates, and threaten our environment. Developers and hyperscalers are investing in AI at record rates. Benefits from these innovations are being concentrated at the top while the rest of us bear the costs, from jobs being automated to our local infrastructure being strained and us footing the bill.
AI will shape our economy and our environment for decades to come.
That’s why I will fight to regulate data centers and AI and protect our privacy, natural resources, and wellbeing.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/putting-safeguards-on-ai at this heading)
- Protect cities’ and states’ rights to regulate and ban data centers
- Impose strict regulations on data centers to safeguard East Tennessee’s resources including our water, environment, and electricity from greedy corporations
- Require AI companies and data centers to pay their fair share for energy, water, and utilities to keep our costs low
- Incentivize investments in workers, not jobs-displacing technologies
- Fund workforce development programs to help protect Americans from jobs displacement caused by AI
- Investigate and reduce AI bias by creating algorithmic transparency in order to protect Americans’ civil rights
- Mitigate AI risks to safety and privacy by regulating AI use in high-stakes spaces like healthcare, and social media, particularly for children
- Fund research on the impact of AI on the workforce, the environment, and our society
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/putting-safeguards-on-ai
Our Constitution protects every American from warrantless searches and seizures. But as technology continues to advance, more of our personal data is being tracked and sold to the highest bidder, including our own government. Everything from our phone calls to our biometric data to our movement patterns are being tracked, stored, and analyzed by private companies and our government against our will.
Companies like Flock are building networks of cameras across the country that allow them to track the movement of vehicles and people in over 5,000 communities without a warrant.
The federal government is also actively collecting massive amounts of our texts, calls, social media posts, and emails in the name of “national security.”
Keeping our country safe doesn’t mean letting the government spy on us 24/7.
Like so many of the other priorities I am fighting for, this is a bipartisan issue, and I look forward to working with colleagues across the aisle to pass commonsense privacy legislation that protects East Tennesseans from government overreach.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/protect-east-tennesseans-privacy at this heading)
- Close the data broker loophole: if the government needs a warrant to take it, it should need a warrant to buy it. The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act does exactly that, and it's already passed the House once. I look forward to joining this legislation as a co-sponsor and working to take it across the finish line.
- Ban the sale of health data outright: Tennesseans’ health information should not be for sale.
- Preserve our constitutional rights by restricting government access to personally identifiable data (biometrics, movement, etc.) that is not connected to a crime
- Prevent companies like Flock from tracking Americans and selling data collected from one community to a different customer
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/protect-east-tennesseans-privacy
East Tennessee is a place that values hard work, family, and fairness, and our immigration system should reflect that.
Our immigration system should reflect those values through secure and modernized borders, fair and humane processing, and a practical path to citizenship for people who play by the rules and contribute to our communities.
The United States is a nation of immigrants who come here seeking a better life for themselves and their families, and to contribute to our nation in the process. I know this firsthand because I am proudly married to one.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/common-sense-dignified-immigration at this heading)
- Fund a just and humane immigration system to remove the backlog of immigration cases
- Return ICE to 2024 funding levels and mandate comprehensive training and background checks
- Pass legislation to modernize and secure our borders
- Create practical paths to citizenship for the people who play by the rules and contribute to our communities
- Hold public officials, including ICE agents, accountable for their actions by requiring identification just like our local law enforcement
- Prosecute federal agents who break the law
- Upgrade our temporary worker programs to fill essential roles in regions with low unemployment
- Support policies to help those fleeing danger and violence settle into our communities
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/common-sense-dignified-immigration
Education is the foundation for our future. Every child and young person deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential.
But today, we are failing our students and our educators. Our schools are struggling. We're facing an administration that has all but shuttered the Department of Education, a national teacher shortage that's impacting Tennessee, unequal access to technology, and school funding per student that's dead last in the country. Here in Tennessee, the voucher program is stripping our public schools of the already limited resources they need to educate the next generation.
I am committed to building an education system that allows every child to learn, grow, and thrive.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/investing-in-education at this heading)
- Invest in educators by raising salaries to recruit the best and brightest minds to teach our children
- Cap student loan interest rates to make a quality education affordable for every young person
- Push for federal education infrastructure dollars to address the $330 million backlog in school renovations and new construction projects across our district, and make sure every classroom has the technology students need to compete
- Expand dual enrollment funding to reduce the costs of attending higher education
- Increase transparency of federal spending on education
- Lower cost barriers for trade and vocational education to diversify the workforce and prepare for the economy of the future
- Fund affordable childcare and early childhood education to give every child a fair shot at success
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/investing-in-education
My grandfather was a corn and soybean farmer. I grew up doing 4H, and worked on a small family farm in college. As a small business owner, I know what it means to put in a full day’s work and still worry about whether you can cover the bills.
Farmers from across East Tennessee face rising costs on land, diesel, fertilizer, equipment and increased interest on loans. Input costs are keeping new and eager farmers from being able to afford the industry.
National conglomerates are hoarding power and control over the market, running local farmers out of business. Equipment companies prevent farmers from repairing their own tractors, and charge ridiculous prices for repairs. And many farmers face a hard choice between selling to developers so that they can retire, or figuring out how to keep the family farm in business for the next generation.
Even when government programs offer help, there is often so much red tape that farmers struggle to access the resources they need.
Our farmers deserve a representative who will fight for them, not the Washington elite.
What I’ll work for in Congress: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/issues/support-east-tn-farmers at this heading)
- Expand federal cost-sharing programs like EQIP, especially for new farmers, to lower the cost of becoming a farmer
- Make farmland access for the next generation a national priority by co-sponsoring and championing bipartisan legislation that would establish a permanent Farm Bill program to help new and beginning farmers find land, access capital, and get the business support they need to build a thriving operation
- Support the reauthorization of agricultural grants to community-based organizations and service providers like UT Extension that provide education, training, and assistance to new and under-resourced farmers
- Reward farmers who keep their land in farming and in the community by strengthening incentives like the Conservation Reserve Program’s Transition Incentive Programs and supporting farm-link programs so that when a farmer retires, it pays to sell or lease to a local, next-generation farmer
- Support conservation easements and estate-planning support so families can keep the farm whole across generations
- Invest in agricultural schools and agricultural innovation to support the next generation of farmers and help them make the most of our land
- Support right to repair legislation, so that farmers and independent repair shops can access the information, tools, and software they need to fix equipment
- Fund programs to help schools buy fresh food from local farmers to feed their students
- Redirect farm support subsidies to small producers, so that our farmers have a fair shot against massive national conglomerates
- Advocate for the development of independent diagnostic tools that could assess the durability and quality of farm equipment from different manufacturers
- Restore funding for USDA pest and disease monitoring, treatment, and response programs to keep our food supply healthy
- Fund the fight against the New World screwworm so this pest is stopped before it reaches East Tennessee herds
- Invest in research, monitoring, and treatment for tick-borne illnesses that currently have no vaccines or treatment, which East Tennessee farmers are battling.
- Research ways to cut red tape on USDA/FDA regulations so that we can help local farmers sell their products, while keeping food safe
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/issues/support-east-tn-farmers
East Tennessee’s resources, from water to land to electricity, should benefit our communities, not billionaires and their massive corporations. That’s why I will fight to regulate data centers and AI and protect our privacy, natural resources, and wellbeing.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent at this heading)
- Protect cities’ and states’ rights to regulate and ban data centers
- Impose strict regulations on data centers to safeguard East Tennessee’s resources including our water, environment, and electricity from greedy corporations
- Require AI companies and data centers to pay their fair share for energy, water, and utilities to keep our costs low
- Incentivize investments in workers, not jobs-displacing technologies
- Fund workforce development programs to help protect Americans from jobs displacement caused by AI
- Investigate and reduce AI bias by creating algorithmic transparency in order to protect Americans’ civil rights
- Mitigate AI risks to safety and privacy by regulating AI use in high-stakes spaces like healthcare, and social media, particularly for children
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent
Working hard should get you ahead, not put you behind. Here’s how I am making sure that every East Tennessean has access to the opportunities they deserve
What I'll work for in Congress: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent at this heading)
- Fight for East Tennessee's share of federal infrastructure dollars to put local workers to work building our own communities
- Bring good-paying jobs home through workforce training, apprenticeships, and manufacturing investments that keep money in East Tennessee
- Hold corporations accountable when they break labor laws and rig the system against workers
- Invest in public schools and universal pre-K so every East Tennessee kid starts with a real shot
- Push for a livable minimum wage so a full-time job actually pays the bills
- Restore the ACA tax credits and crack down on insurance companies that deny valid claims
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent
Being America-first means making life better for hard-working Americans, not supporting unnecessary and unpopular foreign wars in the Middle East.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent at this heading)
- End the war in Iran that has cost Tennessee households over $1,000 in gas and diesel prices alone
- Increase US energy independence
- Support Veterans by funding the VA and Veterans' benefits, so after serving our country they don't have to fight for what they deserve when they get home
- Lower demand for diesel, and therefore diesel prices, by investing in renewable energy generation
- Removing President Trump’s disastrous tariffs that have increased costs for East tennesseans
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent
Insurance companies and big pharma continue to take advantage of those most in need, increasing consumer costs and denying care. Meanwhile, these companies keep posting record profits. This is unacceptable.
What I’ll work for in Congress to fix it: ↗ (opens michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent at this heading)
- Rein in insurance company abuses by requiring insurers to spend more of every premium dollar on actual patient care and health outcomes, penalizing companies that routinely deny valid claims, and support antitrust action to break up corporate healthcare monopolies that dominate the market to post record profits while people go without care
- Work to restore and expand the ACA premium tax credit to make our current healthcare options affordable while ensuring that insurance companies aren’t taking advantage of government dollars
- Advocate for a universal healthcare option, while preserving your freedom to purchase additional insurance coverage
- Champion drug price caps by building on the IRA's Medicare negotiation framework to extend hard price caps to insulin, cancer drugs, and other essential medications for all Americans, not just seniors
- Empower Medicaid to negotiate drug prices, directly lowering your costs for your medications
- Fight to lift the cap on federally funded medical residencies to add thousands of new residency slots annually and address the physician shortage before it becomes a full collapse
- Draw more medical professionals to our region by increasing Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates in rural areas
- Fund community-based health programs so they can solve the biggest health problems in their areas
- Support evidence-based substance abuse treatment to address the opioid crisis in our communities
source ↗ (opens the page at this passage) · michaelafortennessee.com/my-opponent