Garfield Scott

Garfield Scott is a third generation Clarksville native, born and raised in the St. Bethlehem area. He has lived in District 68 all of his life. He is a married father of two grown children with one young grandchild. Prior to his almost forty year career as a professional truck driver, Garfield was a farmer on the family farm. He is a longtime member of St Bethlehem church. Being one of ten children and a product of the Clarksville public school system, Garfield has learned the value of compassion and the ability to get along with friends and neighbors of all ages and backgrounds.

• Infrastructure: as a truck driver, Garfield has seen great roads. Tennessee roads are no longer something to be proud of. Problems are patched in the short term, but long-term solutions are lacking. There is a need for a new vision and cooperation between state and local authorities.
• Public education: we need to maintain funding for our public schools, including paying teachers and other employees a livable wage. We must be vigilant in defending against private school voucher programs that will drain resources from already stretched school systems. We must also protect our teachers from attacks by far-right conservatives who seek to undermine authority and alienate teachers.
• Corporate accountability: we must hold corporations accountable for taxpayer money and incentives given to them by local, state, and federal governments. Garfield will work to ensure companies adhere to the terms agreed to. If communities put infrastructure in place to accommodate promised industry relocations, he will make certain taxpayers are not left on the hook for broken promises.

Gun safety, transportation, reproductive health, racial equality, Medicare

The Peach Seed by J. Wesley Gold

Integrity, approachability, honesty, empathy

Garfield learned the values of hard work and dedication from his family. He can look a person in the eye and shake their hand. He knows how to cultivate bonds between people from all walks of life from his time driving a truck. He will listen to all of his constituents and represent the people of Clarksville in the Nashville legislature when he is elected.

Being able to communicate effectively and reach agreements with political opponents in order to work in the best interests of all constituents.

Garfield would like to be remembered as a decent and honest human being. His word is his bond and he loves people for who they are. He would like to leave the legislature as a more diverse place to represent the true makeup of Tennessee and America.

Garfield was a farmer, helping on the family farm from a very young age. Together they raised cattle, tobacco, soy bean, corn and various vegetable. The family was able to be self-sufficient. He worked on the farm until the age of 22, when the farm was put out of business by shady price fixing on the part of local landowners.

Cordiality is vital to an effective working relationship between the governor and state legislature.

Population growth and making sure that our infrastructure, schools and hospitals can keep up, or ideally, stay ahead of the needs

Actual lived experiences can be more beneficial than legislative experience when it comes to empathizing with real problems. Legislators who have held office for decades are out of touch with issues such as infrastructure that impact average people.

Building relationships is the only way to progress on problems like infrastructure, healthcare, or gun safety. Reaching across the aisle is necessary to find solutions that work for everyone. Communication is key.

John Lewis

US Senator

The legislature should be concerned with legislation. The governor would have emergency powers.

A bill to address the gaps in communication between state and local institutions. This legislation would seek to facilitate and coordinate road repairs and construction on interstate and local roads. We need to cut through the red tape on planned infrastructure projects in order to expedite the time frames.

Education, transportation

It is extremely important for government institutions to be transparent in all areas and to be accountable to the public.

Yes, Tennessee would benefit greatly from a ballot initiative process. This would enable citizens to be part of the legislative process and would restore power to the citizenry that is currently being usurped by the Republican supermajority.