Candidate Directory

To view the Candidate Directory for the Tennessee District 32 Special Election, click here.

Stuart Starr

Senate District5

Candidate Headshot
Incumbent or New

New

Party Affiliation

Democrat

City

Lenoir City

Candidate Email Address

starr4tnsenate5@gmail.com

Campaign Website URL

starr4tnsenate5.org

Campaign Facebook Page

facebook.com

Campaign Twitter Account

starr4tnsenate5


SURVEY QUESTIONS


QUESTION 1:
Would you support or oppose legislation that would prohibit abortion except when necessary to prevent the death of the mother?

Oppose

QUESTION 2:
Would you support or oppose legislation that would make either sexual orientation or gender identity/expression a new protected class under Tennessee’s civil rights laws?

Support

QUESTION 3:
Would you support or oppose a bill to amend Tennessee’s marriage statute to expressly authorize the issuance of marriage licenses to two people of the same sex?

Support

QUESTION 4:
Would you support or oppose legislation that would establish a $15 per hour minimum wage in Tennessee?

Undecided

QUESTION 5:
Would you support or oppose legislation to allow the state to defend public K-12 schools that are sued because they designate the use of locker rooms and bathrooms on the basis of biological sex instead of the gender by which a student identifies?

Oppose

QUESTION 6:
Do you support or oppose the proposition, advanced by a certain business coalition, that the bill described in question 5 is “discriminatory” and “would harm our economy and damage our state’s reputation”?

Oppose

QUESTION 7:
Currently, a majority of the Justices on the Tennessee Supreme Court select the state’s Attorney General and Reporter. Would you support or oppose an amendment to the state Constitution that allows the Legislature to elect the Attorney General and Reporter in the same manner that it elects the Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer?

Oppose

QUESTION 8:
Would you support or oppose an amendment to the state Constitution that allows the Governor to appoint the state’s Attorney General and Reporter subject to confirmation by the Legislature, as now happens with the appointment of the state’s Supreme Court Justices?

Oppose

QUESTION 9:
Would you support or oppose legislation, like Insure Tennessee proposed by Governor Haslam in 2015, that would expand Medicaid coverage in Tennessee beyond the Medicaid-eligible population?

Support

QUESTION 10:
Do you support or oppose the decision by the state’s Department of Health to disregard the state’s current adoption laws and allow a child’s original birth certificate to show that the child has two mothers simply because one of the women is married to the child’s biological mother?

Undecided

QUESTION 11:
Would you support or oppose a bill that would prohibit the state or local governmental entities from either giving preference to or discriminating against a business entity in awarding of grants or contracts based on whether the business has made sexual orientation or gender identity a protected status under its personnel policies, assuming that either of such statuses is not otherwise required by federal law?

Support

QUESTION 12:
Would you support or oppose legislation to award all of Tennessee’s Electors in a presidential election to the Party of the candidate who wins the national popular vote?

Support

QUESTION 13:
Do you support or oppose legalizing horse racing tracks in Tennessee at which bets can be placed on races?

Support

QUESTION 14:
There is a school of thought that the Constitution is a “living” document, meaning its various provisions are evolving and should be interpreted in the context of contemporary societal mores. Would you support or oppose a nominee to the Tennessee Supreme Court if there is credible evidence that the nominee believes the state or federal Constitution should be viewed or interpreted as a “living” document?

Support

QUESTION 15:
Would you support or oppose legislation to ensure that an adoption agency with a sincerely held belief that marriage is only one man and one woman would not lose its state license to make adoption placements if it only placed children in homes into which the marriage was of one man and one woman?

Support


ESSAY QUESTIONS


ESSAY QUESTION 1:
Explain your view of state government’s role in relation to economic growth and/or job creation.

The State's responsibility in the area of job creation and economic development should only extend to education and infrastructure both physical and digital. We need to create a workforce that attracts new businesses. Otherwise we are in nothing more than a bidding war for new industry, each locality bribing businesses with tax breaks and low interest loans.

ESSAY QUESTION 2:
What are your thoughts about a parent of a child in a low performing public school being provided a voucher equal to the amount of the state’s per-student expenditure that would be applied toward the child’s private school tuition?

While I do favor school choice, I also realize that Charter schools mainly help wealthy districts. I believe in 20 years we will not even recognize education delivery as it is today.

ESSAY QUESTION 3:
What is one of the most satisfying things you have ever done or accomplished and what made it so satisfying to you?

Running for US House of Representatives in 2016. For less than 1000 dollars spent on the campaign I got more votes and a greater percentage of the vote on any Democrat in 20 years.

ESSAY QUESTION 4:
What personal qualities or experiences do you think will best serve you in your role as a state legislator?

I have had a varied background with careers in Technology and education. I owned a Technology Company in the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Business Incubator Center. I am able to understand growing issues governments face in areas of science and technology. As a parent and educator I understand the social and economic realities facing the American family in the 21 st century.

ESSAY QUESTION 5:
What bill that passed in the last General Assembly would you have voted against and why, or what bill that was not passed in the last General Assembly do you wish had passed and why?

I am a member of the National Patients Rights group Safe Access, and the State Safe Access chapter. Safe Access Tennessee brought together Democrats, Republican, independents and Libertarians. United we worked with Republican State Representative Jeremy Faison and Tennessee State Senator Dickerson and other State Republican leaders in crafting and introducing Medical cannabis legislation. It was truly amazing in this time of extreme political partisanship that all these folks could unite behind a single cause. Even as the proposed legislation was continually watered down in order to get passage in some form we all stayed together: United. The Medical Cannabis Only (MCO) legislation was passed by 2 separate committees in the Tennessee State House. Before it could even reach committee in the Senate, Republican Leadership headed by Lt. Governor Randy McNally killed the legislation. There would be no medical cannabis for the patients of Tennessee in 2018. I support medical cannabis legislation.