By Steve Hickey (secretary of Williamson Families PAC) –
Many prospective voters have asked “for whom should I vote?” when looking for politicians who might best represent their values. While I believe each person should discern for themselves based on all available information, I would like to share a little about how this guide was developed, since I had a hand in the endorsements contained within.
It is no secret our nation is undergoing some rapid, tectonic changes right before our eyes. I joined Williamson Families as I believe I could no longer sit on the sidelines, vote in even year general elections, and hope for the best. What I have discovered is that many politicians who purport to share my values only do so when they need my support every two, four, or six years. I have also learned that the Republican Party, for whom I’ve voted my entire adult life, does a shockingly poor job vetting the candidates they offer up for election and often puts their thumb on the scale for whomever the moneyed interests prefer.
At Williamson Families, we set out last Fall to find, vet, resource, and support candidates for office who have conservative values, strength of character, and a constitutional understanding of government’s role in our lives.
For the school board and county commission candidates we vetted, each went through a two tiered interview process, an extensive background review, and a final capstone board review. I can say with resolute certainty that we found some of the best servant leaders a conservative voter could hope to have on the ballot.
In producing this guide, we teamed with Mr. Craig Huey’s Tennessee Voter’s Guide to produce a combined Williamson County general/state-federal primary voters guide that gives the WillCo conservative voter a one-stop shopping cart of candidates we believe best match their values.
Nevertheless, we have been attacked by the Williamson County Republican Party as being not genuine in our efforts. It was never, and it is not now our desire to fight within Republican ranks, merely to ensure our office holders reflect the conservative values of their constituents.
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It is therefore not surprising that everyone is jockeying for the mantle of “conservative” politician. While we would hope conservative voters would consider our guide, more than anything we ask conservative Williamson County voters to remember the following:
1) Incumbency does not automatically equate with good, conservative governance
2) Politics is a messy enterprise and some independent candidates we are supporting were intimidated out of this spring’s GOP primary
3) It is easy to claim conservative values; it is much harder to translate those into reality–look at actions rather than platitudes; look at what might influence a particular politician as well
4) It is important to stay engaged with elected officials and hold them accountable for who they claim to be long after the last vote is counted
We encourage you to use this guide, forward to your like minded friends, and encourage them to do the same. But more than anything, we encourage you to make your conservative voices heard at the ballot box this week and on election day.
Download the guide HERE.
