Candidate Directory
To view the Candidate Directory for the Tennessee District 32 Special Election, click here.
John Dawson
House District67
New
Independent
Clarksville
https://twitter.com/LookToChange18
SURVEY QUESTIONS
Would you support or oppose legislation that would prohibit abortion except when necessary to prevent the death of the mother?
Oppose
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?
Oppose
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?
Oppose
Would you support or oppose legislation that would establish a $15 per hour minimum wage in Tennessee?
Oppose
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?
Support
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
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?
Support
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
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?
Oppose
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?
Oppose
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
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?
Oppose
Do you support or oppose legalizing horse racing tracks in Tennessee at which bets can be placed on races?
Oppose
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?
Oppose
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
Explain your view of state government’s role in relation to economic growth and/or job creation.
It is not always better for government to influence the free market, potentially hindering higher rates of return and quality of products/services offered. As long as the government provides "free" it does not promote a true willingness to strive for betterment at varying levels. Governments should limit their involvement, keeping simply to the framework. The bigger the government becomes the more expenditures and the people end up losing out as a whole.
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?
First I have to ask, why is the school performing low? Where do we as a state produce the funding to provide the vouchers? These funds would be taken from another source, presumably within the states school system funding, thus taking from other programs as a whole. These vouchers can potentially provide an overall savings for the state, with these potential savings being utilized elsewhere. This "elsewhere" would have to be clearly defined and reutilized in the school educational systems. This may also have a negative impact on the public school systems as well in the long run.
What is one of the most satisfying things you have ever done or accomplished and what made it so satisfying to you?
Having children with my wife. We have had experiences that were good and bad, but stuck it out no matter. These have provided lessons from one end of the spectrum to the other that can truly only be learned through the personal experience.
What personal qualities or experiences do you think will best serve you in your role as a state legislator?
As a legislator we are "hired" by the people to be their voice and not serve our own agendas. This can only be done working with our communities and the people there in. I am one that still considers a persons word as a thing of honor. No one is perfect, nor ever will be and must not make promises that cannot be kept. The promise is to be the best person that one can be for the people. Everything one does in life should be relevant to experiences for the future, it is how one has reflected, as well applied the lessons learned.
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?
Would have been SB2680, takes away the little persons voice in the annexation of properties. Smaller households or farms will no longer have a choice in their lifestyle, if developers or a city purchases the majority of properties in a given area. Would have had to vote against this one.
