Democrats list health care, jobs and education at top 2018 issues

Will there be a revival of the Democratic Party in 2018?

Three candidates for state offices who recently attended an event at the Cannon County Senior Center certainly hope so.

Former Nashville mayor Karl Dean and current state representative Craig Fitzhugh, who are both running for governor on the Democratic ticket, as well as Mary Alice Carfi, who is seeking the 17th District state Senate seat, spoke at the event sponsored by the Cannon County Democratic Party.

Carfi is hoping a comeback by Democrats happens sooner than next year. She is trying to win the Special Election for the District 17 seat which became open when Mae Beavers resigned to run for governor on the Republican ticket.

Carfi is facing current 46th District House representative Mark Pody, a Republican, in the Special Election, which will be held Dec. 19. The Senate district is comprised of Cannon, Smith, DeKalb, Wilson, Clay and Macon counties.

Carfi said her goal as state senator would be to have all members working together for the benefit of all Tennesseans.

"It is hard for me to understand why our state legislature is not doing that," she said. "They need to be not so concerned about voting down party lines, but focusing on the issues and working together to make people's lives better in our district and in our state."

An MTSU graduate and attorney, Carfi is facing an uphill battle even within her own family. She said her husband and her father are both Republicans.

"I never aspired to run for political office. I never thought I would be running for a position like this," Carfi said. "But people have become so divisive, so ugly toward each other the past couple of years, that I got really tired of just talking about the issues and complaining and hoping that people would love each other again, that I decided to step up and try to do something about it to make people's lives better."

Carfi said her big issues are, "we've got to have good access to health care. We've got to have good public education. And we have to have decent wages for jobs.

"If somebody is working a full time job they should not have to apply for assistance just to put food on the table for their kids. That just doesn't make any sense, and I don't like it when things don't make sense. That's why I entered this race. I want to bring some commonsense to our government and some commonsense to the chaos that has been going on up there (Nashville)."

Dean is probably the most recognizable candidate running for governor for either party, having recently served two terms as mayor of Nashville.

"I think I have something to offer," Dean said. "I have a lot of experience in local government. I have served as the mayor of our largest city for two terms. I care passionately about education. I care about economic opportunity and I want to make sure that Tennesseans have access to health care."

Dean said he would not have run unless he saw a pathway to victory.

"I believe very strongly that the people of Tennessee want a moderate governor who is going to be pragmatic, have commonsense, is not going to be an ideologue, who is going to get things done," Dean said. "The model that we've had with the past mayors being governors has worked in a sense and I think the reason is when you are a mayor you don't run in partisan elections.

"When I was running for mayor I had to get Democrats, Republicans and independents to vote for me," Dean continued. "And when you're mayor you don't think about is his a party issue. Is this good for Democrats or Republicans. You do what's good for the people of the city. And we need a governor who is going to do what's good for the people of the state. I think that is the right model and I think that is what the people of Tennessee are really interested in."

Dean said better access to health care for all Tennesseans is at the top of his list of priorities.

"I think one of the issues that we really need to focus on is health care, because I think health care is where we made a really big mistake, a huge mistake, in not doing Medicaid expansion. When you think back to when we did that and some of the politics, the partisan politics, the ideological politics that were involved in that, it was not a rational decision. We have let $3.6 billion leave our state. And that is money that could be used to help people with low incomes, people with preexisting conditions, people with disabilities, people who are aging, have access to health care.

"When people don't have access to health care, when they don't have insurance, it doesn't mean they don't have medical problems," Dean added. "So tragically some people will not seek medical care when they should because they can't afford it, or they do seek medical care and they are financially ruined because their life savings are gone or they have to file bankruptcy. As a result of this Tennessee is now number two in hospital closures. We've had nine. And these hospital closures have happened in rural and small town areas."

Dean said lack of access to health care harms rural communities and makes it more difficult for them to keep and attract jobs.

"Think of how hard it is to keep people to live in a small town or in a community if there is no hospital. How hard it is to attract new residents to a town or community if you don't have a hospital. And then think how hard it is to bring businesses and jobs if you don't have a hospital. So this is a real issue. We need to expand Medicaid. We need to look for whatever way we can to make sure Tennessee is getting its fair share of Medicaid dollars."

Dean also said improving the education system is important to him.

"Education to me is the issue that extends over everything in our state. That is the thing we have to absolutely get right. We need to be a state where we are producing more college graduates but we also need to be a state that recognizes that not everyone can go to college. And if somebody decides to get a two-year degree or decides they want to pursue a trade or another profession we need the have the vocational or partnership-in-training programs for them to be able to make a good living."

Fitzhugh said he is running for governor to so that every Tennessean can have access a job, education and health care.

"I think that is what makes us as Democrats different than everybody else. It's just frankly people. You know there are two words that sound a lot alike. One of them is selfish. And one of them is selfless. I think that is another way we can separate ourselves from the majority party right now," Fitzhugh said.

"You look at the tax bill Washington is getting ready to do right now. To me that is a bit selfish as to who is really going to get the tax cuts. There is a little bit out there for the middle class but it is really not selfless. Selfless is what we Democrats are. It doesn't mean we are for handouts. It doesn't mean we're for giving everybody everything. That's not the government's purpose. I think the American dream and the Tennessee dream is to give everybody the opportunity for that dream."

Fitzhugh said the American dream most people want is for to receive a paycheck that pays for food, clothing and shelter, it pays enough for people to be able to go to the doctor before they get so sick they have to go to the emergency room, and it pays for post-secondary education.