Atwater's focus is on a NEW TENNESSEE, with the spirit of humility, humanity, and healthy mindsets being the bridge to bring all political affiliations to the table for the betterment of Tennesseans. Politics will not drive this grassroots social movement, but rather human beings who embrace the Tennessee Constitution to serve and protect the citizens of this great state.

As a leader, I pledge to come to the table with an agape spirit, a listening ear, and the ability to work across the aisle to push a new agenda for the people. Divisiveness and division stop with my administration, and dedication to the people begins...

It comes a time in the State of Tennessee that we must have a precise, comprehensive plan of action that works for all Tennesseans and not just the elite. Tennesseans are being closed out and pushed out of our great State because of being poor. The working class is struggling, and the middle class is barely hanging by a thread of hope.

Operating under Project 2025, we must have a people's agenda to restore equity, equality, and justice for all. The birth of the Tennessee "Resurrection of Hope" Plan does just that with the people at the nucleus of effective change. This "Resurrection of Hope" places all Tennesseans at the table of prosperity!

I present to you an excerpt of the 365-page Resurrection of Hope Plan. It is time to pull Tennesseans out of the ruins of economic destruction, disinvestment, and disrespect. A new pathway of equity for all Tennesseans, redesigning, redirecting, redistributing, and refocusing in our beloved Tennessee. It is time to place people back into politics. Restoring their constitutional rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

These urgent and turbulent times are no longer about divisive politics but being intentional about placing Tennesseans at the center of budget planning, economic development, and community engagement. Tennesseans should not be displaced from their traditional neighborhoods while billionaires glory over billion-dollar development deals. The State of Tennessee has been sold out by the highest bidder, which has caused families to be homeless or displaced souls in a game of political Russian Roulette.

As the next Governor, I stand with the people and by the people. Politics is not about the politicians; it should be about the people! It is Resurrection time...

ATWATER FOR GOVERNOR 2026

The Tennessee "Resurrection of Hope" Plan

Housing, Healthcare, and Healthy Living…

“MAKE TENNESSEE WHOLE AGAIN”

Just Imagine! A New Tennessee Rising from the Dead…

New Pathway of Equity for All Tennesseans…

Redesigning, Redirecting, Redistributing, and Refocusing in our beloved Tennessee

It is time for a resurrection…

Resurrecting the affordability of livable wages, healthcare, housing, utility, and food costs, thus placing Tennesseans back into politics.

Resurrecting a State where money and backdoor deals should not mean more to political leaders than people!

Resurrecting what is important: placing people back into politics…

Resurrecting morality, dignity, and accountability in Tennessee Government…

Resurrecting our state to get rid of the malignant tumors of political corruption…

Resurrecting the fiscal budget to meet the needs of all citizens and not just the elitist, lobbyist, donors, the rich and powerful…

Resurrecting a more inclusive Tennessee, therefore denouncing toxic and divisive cultural, political, and social strife. We are one Tennessee!

It is time for a resurrection…

Resurrecting a government that cares about the people. Stop the abuse of using food and healthcare to punish innocent people.

Resurrecting common-sense gun safety laws and rescinding the permit-less gun bill to promote public safety and accountability…

Resurrecting and establishing rural hospitals and satellite clinics to assure rural Tennesseans have basic health care accessibility… Healthcare is a human right!

Resurrecting and releasing millions of dollars in TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). Food accessibility is a human right!

Resurrecting and promoting basic human decency to feed our children and senior citizens by any means necessary…

Resurrecting and redirecting funds to rural farmers who have struggled too long, while the majority of the funding goes to urban cities…

Resurrecting the voices of teachers & abolishing the school voucher scam & corruption…

Resurrecting and making sure all family farmers have equity and justice…

It is time for a resurrection…

Resurrecting the homeless individuals living on the streets and dying…

Resurrecting the disinvestment of underserved & marginalized neighborhoods…

Resurrecting the local, state, and federal funds that have been given to rich investors and developers while poor people have suffered…

Resurrecting the financial struggles of small business owners who have struggled too long…

It is time for a resurrection…

Resurrecting blatant, insidious bills that have caused citizens harm…

Resurrecting the spirits and souls of our beloved LGBTQ community who should never forget we love them...

Resurrecting hope in women who have lost faith in the government for trying to take the autonomy of their bodies...

Resurrecting and demolishing legislative bills that have embraced wrongful criminal responsibility laws…

Resurrecting and advocating for policy changes that promote rehabilitation and second chances. Restoring human rights in the prison system…

Resurrecting and abolishing the private prison system in the State of Tennessee that makes billions from incarceration of citizens, especially non-violent offenders…

It is time for a resurrection…

Resurrecting the contaminated toxic that exposed neighborhoods that no one has investigated for decades, while citizens die of toxic environmental exposure…

Resurrecting our failing, unstructured, unhealthy, and unsafe public schools. Public school is a human right…

Resurrecting and restoring cultural education in schools where all children can learn diversity and tolerance…

Resurrecting underserved and marginalized neighborhoods where children must run for cover to prevent getting shot by a bullet…

It is time for a resurrection…

Resurrecting our crime-riddled neighborhoods that have gone unchecked…

Resurrecting this cycle of poverty where 47% of our babies are living like a third-world country…

Resurrecting our food deserts where bellies are hungry, and no one has addressed this inhumane issue across the State of Tennessee…

Resurrecting the souls of legislators to release the remaining $717 millions of dollars in TANF funds to feed our children...

Resurrecting our beloved mental health and drug addicted sisters and brothers…

Resurrecting our youth programs to invoke creativity & childhood play again…

Resurrecting the souls of the people to be a better and more inclusive Tennessee for all our citizens… ONE TENNESSEE!

I am the People’s Governor. Vote for Carnita Atwater as your next Governor of the State of Tennessee!

FIRST 90 DAYS -PRIORITIES FOR THE PEOPLE

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, my plan is not reactionary nor superficial; it is a well-thought-out action plan based on the input of 14,000 Tennesseans' feedback as I have traveled in this campaign quest to place people back into politics. I have been intentional about not going to meetings that do not have the grassroots and working-class at the table.

In the first 90 days of my administration, I would inspect, dissect, and analyze layers of abuse against the citizens and taxpayers of Tennessee. First priority, to implement a Tennessee Code Orange Accountability Task Force (TCOATF) which would be a third-party operational task force to perform an initial forensic investigation into political and judicial corruption, review term limits and qualified immunity as it relates to police officers, political and judicial actors, research all judicial complaints made by Tennesseans, investigate abusive tax incentives to large corporations, seek legal interruptions on discriminatory bills such as HB 1895, SB 2153, HB 0978, HB 2143, HB 2657, SB 2012, and SB 2683, all bills regarding abusive and insidious attacks on civil rights, voting rights, women’s reproductive health care rights, immigrants, restore social equity and justice in the LGBTQ community, perform an analysis of local, state and federal funds allocation across the 95 counties, violations of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), bias governmental contracts, misappropriation of PPP distribution funds, CARES Act distribution funding, abuse of Medicaid expenditures, analysis of federal funding and no-bid contracts, rural financial disparities, housing genocide on the poor, Tax incentives and PILOTs for large corporations, rural hospital closures, rural counties' economic neglect, Medicaid mismanagement, misappropriation and/or mishandling of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), misuse of low-income children’s security number and identification, Tennessee DHS abuse, CoreCivic abuse and mismanaged governmental agreements, school vouch inequities and privatization of prison system. Investigate the gross violations of land trust guidelines and financial abuse against Tennessee State University, thus releasing $2.2 Billion to the university with interest. Perform a financial comprehensive disparity study as it relates to TSU and UT-Knoxville, which are both land-grant colleges.

Second priority, implementing a “Medicare for All” Plan to assure that all Tennesseans receive an affordable quality healthcare regiment which should be a human right in the State of Tennessee. I would aggressively address the pharmaceutical abuse in the State of Tennessee, which causes many citizens to choose between buying their medication and skipping a meal or two.

Third priority, revisit the Right to Work law and remove it from our Tennessee Constitution if altered. I would incorporate a State of Tennessee Livable Wage Plan to entail a $18.50 – $21.50 incremental minimum wage and incorporate a Teacher’s Loyalty Plan.

BUDETS ARE MORAL DOCUMENTS:

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I would expedite a progressive call to action for a moral agenda, which we must move beyond left and right, liberal and conservative, and strive to uphold a fairer and just higher ground regarding moral values! It is time to break the silence of modern-day atrocities regarding the injustice in the State of Tennessee.

When multi-billions of dollars are being given to the rich while the poor suffer on the streets of Tennessee living under bridges and cardboard boxes, eating out of trash cans, middle-class being forced out of their homes, Tennesseans dying in the streets due to a lack of shelter, crime, healthcare and nutrition, citizens working two or three jobs to make ends meet, rampant untreatable mental illness, and senseless killings on the streets of urban and rural communities. When you drive across the State of Tennessee and see the new development, but look at the citizens on the streets with tattered clothes, holes in their shoes, and matted hair, Tennessee’s budgets should be moral documents!

When you have a Governor, and the legislative body passes a law criminalizing homeless individuals for sleeping in public spaces, which can result in a felony or six years in jail, this is the epitome of inhumane to mankind!

As your next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I will break the silence of neglect! I will address the poverty, inequality, systemic racism, discriminatory governmental policies, housing and health care disparities, criminal inequities, the genocide of women's rights, voting rights atrocities, and environmental injustice.

As citizens in the State of Tennessee, we are drowning in this corrupt, unethical, toxic, and unequal democracy, which has caused this divisive state of affairs in our beloved Volunteer State.

Our “budgets are moral documents” must move away from anti-poor people, anti-poverty, anti-black, anti-immigrants, anti-farmer, anti-health care, anti-racism, anti-LGBQT+, anti-affordable homes, anti-veteran benefits, anti-public schools, anti-unions, and anti-climate control. Budgets are moral documents…

Budgets are moral documents, certainly have a personal meaning to me. In 2018, as a crusader for the people regarding “budgets are moral documents”, I filed a 20 Billion Dollar lawsuit against the City of Memphis, Shelby County, the State of Tennessee and Governor Bill Lee for the disinvestments of black, brown and poor white underserved neighborhoods, abuse of tax incentives to rich developers while poor people homes were being sold through tax lien sales, inadequate budgets for affordable housing and health care, school disparities, discriminatory voter suppression and redistricting, environmental toxic exposure, social and economic disparities.

My political people’s platform is based on equity and participatory democracy, which can give people who have been systematically excluded from political processes, including people from black, brown, and poor white communities, immigrants, and formerly and currently incarcerated people, the power to decide how to solve the issues they are impacted by. This makes decisions more equitable and effective because they are tailored to real community needs. If these individuals are not at the table, then the budget is not about them. Budgets are moral documents…

As politicians who are supposed to serve the people, we can no longer sit on the sidelines with the lack of morality that has been governing our budgets, which have caused harm to the citizens in this State. As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I would focus on budgets that address the needs of all Tennesseans, urban and rural. Budgets are moral documents…

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, accountability would start with me by working toward implementing “A TENN-FAIR Budget for all Tennesseans.” In the State of Tennessee, with trillions of dollars going to rich developers, there should be no economic or technical excuse for “budgets are moral documents.” Poverty is not only a private tragedy but, in a sense, a public crime.

People’s lives are being violated, especially because of their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

When copious new developments are being built across the State of Tennessee, others are living in dilapidated homes with lead and rodents, senior citizens going without medication to maintain basic survival and eating cat food, children dying from gunshots in poverty-stricken areas, inadequate public transportation, and school disparities due to living in certain zip codes. It is, above all, a challenge to our morality. Therefore, “budgets are moral documents” to me on many fronts, which is one of the reasons I am running for the Governor of the State of Tennessee.

As the next Governor, I would address “budgets are moral documents,” which would give every Tennessean a seat at the table of economic prosperity. I have been a boots-on-the-ground community leader and an advocate of the people of the State of Tennessee for over 25 years. Therefore, I would take that spirit of humanitarianism and humility to this official seat of Governor that should be serving the people.

As an active moral participant in these social, cultural, and economic devastations, I have done my part by feeding 10,000 citizens each year, taking care of the underserved children, and clothing the homeless. This is the attribute of a participatory Governor where people are the priority and not economic development and money. Budgets are moral documents. As the next Governor, I am ready to take that task on for the betterment of all Tennesseans and not just the rich and privileged. The underserved, marginalized, homeless, mentally ill, uninsured, drug addicted individuals and displaced veterans must be factored into “Budgets are moral documents”.

TENNESSEE SHARE PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING (TSPB)

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, working with mayors at the municipality level, I believe that it is time for all citizens to be at the table of prosperity and inclusion with a lens of equity, focusing on budgeting through “Community Building Inclusion.” It is time for a resurrection…

Tennessee Share Participatory Budgeting (TSPB) would empower citizens to decide together how to spend public money. As the next Governor working with mayors, I would create and support a progressive participatory budgeting process that deepens democracy, build a stronger Tennessee, and make public budgets more equitable and effective for all Tennesseans.

Real inclusion democracy will change the way we do business in Tennessee by learning from impacted people who have suffered from economic disparities, disinvestments, gentrification, displacement, and living in the shadows of hidden systemic racism with the push of a pin. At this point, we must dive into the underlying problems in this state and not just superficial quick fixes that benefit the wealthy and leave behind poor people who have been struggling for decades. It is time for a resurrection…

As the next Governor, I will employ a multi-cultural, people-centered, community-based economic system of change for the betterment of all citizens. All Tennesseans should be able to share in what happens around them. Our democracy is in crisis in this state because of the lack of shared power, which has led to high crime, poverty, economic disparities, violation of human rights, and a lack of trust and respect for our political leaders. It is time for a resurrection…

Tennessee Share Participatory Budgeting can transform the relationship between the Tennessee government and the communities that we should be serving. This inclusionary agenda would act as a roadmap in reimagining what true participatory democracy could look like in the State of Tennessee. It is time for a resurrection…

Wasteful spending is out-of-control on material wealth, new development, and not the people. It is time for a resurrection…

The balance of equity must focus on returning the gearshifts of Tennessee government budgeting to the people, therefore empowering people to decide collectively how public money is spent. We have a democracy that works - when community and government are on the same side of the table, making decisions that benefit all citizens, no matter what zip code you live in or what pedigree you may hail from. It is time for a resurrection…

As the State of Tennessee experiences a rise in violent crimes and the brutal killing of Tyree Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, we have witnessed how both crises have exacerbated existing inequities. As the next Governor, we must evaluate our current political and democratic processes to reimagine what a post-pandemic Tennessee could look like. As the next Governor, I am up for the challenge!

Through a collective radical reimagining of Tennessee systems, by placing real power in the hands of the people who are most impacted through processes like participatory budgeting, using a holistic approach to addressing agitated problems exclusive to the Volunteer State. We must truly use the “grit and grin” boots-on-the-ground method to overcome this handicap socially, culturally, and economically. I am ready to be a new kind of Governor, the “People’s Governor.” It is time for a resurrection…

Implementing government-community control over public budgets has never been more urgent, as it will have a more lasting impact for decades to come.

This will be a clear pathway for all communities in the State of Tennessee to have real power and democracy over budgets, policies, and decisions that impact their lives. Not merely at the superficial table, but in the back-door decision-making shenanigans, thus being foot soldiers of justice for all of our citizens. It is time for a resurrection…

TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION

Taxation without representation describes a populace that is required to pay taxes to a government authority without having any say in that government’s policies. It is time for a resurrection…

Based on reports analyzing tax data between 2016 and 2022, over 60% of corporations in Tennessee paid zero state corporate income tax (excise tax) in the given years. Additionally, roughly 40% of companies only paid the $100 minimum franchise tax, and about 27% of companies reporting over $1 billion in federal taxable income paid no Tennessee income tax.

It is not uncommon for large U.S. corporations to pay no U.S. income taxes despite making billions of dollars in profits. In fact, 55 of America’s largest companies paid no income taxes over the three years from 2018-2020, all while generating hefty profits. Many even received tax rebates, adding up to hundreds of millions of dollars. How do profitable corporations get away with paying no taxes? The most common ways are accelerated depreciation, offshoring of profits, stock options, and tax credits.

The study by the Government Accountability Office said about 68 percent of foreign companies doing business in the U.S. avoided corporate taxes over the same period.

On the other hand, citizens living in poverty-stricken communities across the State of Tennessee are struggling to keep shelter over their heads, feed their families, access quality health care, and lose their property through tax lien sales.

Tennesseans are being forced out of their traditional neighborhoods due to invasive, rich developers pricing them out of the market with high rental costs. With the affordability crisis, many Tennesseans are suffering the burden of high food costs, high utility bills, high healthcare premiums, high childcare costs, and high gas prices while rich developers reap the benefits of tax incentives and PILOTs.

EQUITABLE REPRESENTATION OF JUSTICE IN TENNESSEE - THE "PEOPLE'S PAY DAY INITIATIVE"

As the next Governor that would represent all Tennesseans, I would be the great equalizer for justice and equity for all. With inclusionary tactics, Tennessee could be the “Equity State of Justice.” It is time for all Tennesseans to get the constitutional “pay day” that all citizens should be afforded as taxpayers. Taxation without representation will no longer be an option on my watch as the next Governor of the State of Tennessee. It is time for a resurrection…

As a newly elected Governor, it is my belief that as the next progressive, forward-thinking leader, we must take intentional steps to ensure equitable representation and integrated inclusion in our democracy. In the 21^st century in the State of Tennessee, a person can work long hours cleaning up warehouses, banks, hotels, pay day loan services, grocery stores, manufacturing companies, and governmental buildings but cannot access loans to purchase their first home, access good quality healthcare, access quality nutritional meals for their families and be evicted from their homes for being poor. This is a sad situation in the State of Tennessee. As political leaders, we must bring common sense back to the table of social and economic prosperity for all beloved Tennesseans.

On my radar, Tennesseans struggling to survive will be my greatest priority from day one of my administration, and the greatest task that I will try to combat will be to give every citizen an equal footing to an equitable and healthy life free from unnecessary stress.

Tennesseans lurking in the wind, trying not to get their cars repossessed, forced to file medical bankruptcy, going to pawn shops selling items out of their homes to survive one more day, are traumatic actions of everyday people in the State of Tennessee. Taking their child’s computer to the pawnshop to purchase food to eat. As a gubernatorial candidate living in poverty at an early point in my life, I also have experienced this traumatic survival of the shadows of economic disparity.

No Tennessean should be living in this mode of stress and survival in a State that is financially rich with a robust rainy day fund, and the streets are paved in gold for rich developers and out-of-town investors buying up properties across the State of Tennessee, while poor people are being evicted from their apartments and homes. For these shadows of economic lockouts, homeownership is no longer attainable, but being a renter is the sharecropper trend, which will never be the pathway to generational wealth for the poor.

As the next boots-on-the-ground Governor, I would bring a fair and informed perspective to our Volunteer State. The many institutions that comprise our federal system – from the legislature to banking and the judiciary – have historically not reflected the diverse tapestry of this state or country. Far too long, black, brown, and poor white people, whose brutally hard-working forced labor turned our state and country into a global superpower, have been overlooked or underrepresented by the symbols representing our democracy. We must and can do better in the State of Tennessee.

With my new governorship, the tapestry will look and reflect all Tennesseans, poor, middle-class, rich, homeless, disabled, displaced veterans, women, immigrants, the LGBTQ community, rural residents, and any other fiber of equality that must be at the table of justice for every citizen across the State of Tennessee.

I will be in the business of getting the State of Tennessee back to its original form…FOR THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE!

In the State of Tennessee, if we are truly going to live out the justice and equality of our Tennessee Constitution and U. S. Constitution, we must be about the business of true diversity and inclusion for all Tennesseans. We can no longer cherry-pick who we will invest in, who we will force out of their communities, who we will continue to further push down in poverty and financial devastation, who we will violate to uplift rich developers and business owners, and who we will consider as privileged Tennesseans. We are all privileged and worthy of being Tennesseans that all can be proud of as beloved citizens that deserve safe communities, decent affordable housing, decent livable wages, free from toxic environmental exposure, and free from governmental abuse and oversight. It is time for all citizens to get the blank check of justice in the State of Tennessee, which will give all Tennesseans a seat at the table of economic prosperity for generations to come. As the next incoming Governor, I will return the original state of “WE THE PEOPLE,” not “WE THE POLITICIAN.”

Tennesseans should not have to live from paycheck to paycheck! Live stressfully, running to pay day loans to feed their families. When one Tennessean suffers, we all should be concerned enough to stand up for what is right and be our brothers and sisters’ keeper.

No human should be eating out of a trash can, sleeping in the streets, surviving hard-knock brutal beatings, families sleeping in cars due to the loss of a home, or small business owners living on the edge of bankruptcy due to unfair governmental funding or lack of accessibility to bank funding.

RIGHTS OF PASSAGE ECONOMIC PLAN FOR TENNESSEE CITIZENS

Every citizen in the State of Tennessee should have equal access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in this state, which includes adequate disbursements and allocations of city, state, and federal funds. It is time for a resurrection…

(a) Every Tennessean should be afforded the full benefits of the Tennessee Constitution and the City and County’s Charters.

(b) Every Tennessean should have inclusion in all State of Tennessee economic distributions, thus promoting real Participatory Budgeting.

(c) Every Tennessean should have a representation as a taxpayer in this state with adequate benefits, such as public transportation, public works, and safety, no matter what their zip code.

(d) Every Tennessean should be allowed to participate at the state’s economic table of prosperity when it comes to EDGE (Economic Development Growth Engine), CDBG (Community Development Block Grant), Industrial Development Board (IDB), CARES Act, Downtown Business Commission, HUD, or any other federal funds to promote a good, equitable quality of life.

(e) Every Tennessean should have access to decent and affordable housing without the burden of a capitalistic system of discriminatory actions.

(f) Every Tennessean should not be criminalized because they are homeless in the state, city, or county.

(g) Every Tennessean has the right to an equitable and fair justice system.

(h) Every Tennessean should be treated fairly when it comes to drug addiction or mental illness, no matter what their racial makeup, nationality, or economic status.

(i) Every Tennessean should not be exposed to toxic pollutants by large corporations under the silence of this state, such as Ethylene Oxide (ETO), Nitrogen Oxide, Benzene, lead in their water, or any other hazardous exposure due to their underserved neighborhoods being unjustifiably targeted or being considered the least resilient.

(j) Every Tennessean should have the right to a clean environment and a healthy community without politics exacerbating racial disparities in underserved and marginalized communities.

(k) Every Tennessean should have the right to make their voices heard in the workplace through a union and collective bargaining without being retaliated against.

(l) Every Tennessean should have the right to recall any politician due to misappropriation or misallocation of public funds, especially if it benefits the wealthy and not the local, everyday working-class citizens.

(m) Every Tennessean living in rural communities should be afforded the same economic development, infrastructure, and state funding as any other urban or metropolitan area. Rural neglect is not constitutional.

(n) Every Tennessean living in rural communities should not experience hospital and emergency room closures, which place their lives in jeopardy. This is not life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

(o) Every Tennessean should be free from living in poverty-stricken communities when billionaires are receiving billions in tax breaks, tax incentives, PILOTs, and abatements.

(p) Every Tennessean should not be living in food deserts when multi-millions are given to rich developers and investors.

TENNESSEE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE REFORM INITIATIVE

Injustice is being carried out across the State of Tennessee under the “color of law”. Under my administration as the next Governor, the silence would be broken, and political and judicial abuse would be investigated through a mutual agency brought into the State of Tennessee.

In the first 90 days of my administration, I would perform a forensic investigation of all governmental financial dealings across the State of Tennessee, governmental contracts, tax incentives accountability, PPP distributions, state and federal funds, rural financial disparities, CARES Act, Medicaid mismanagement, lack of distribution of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), etc.

There will never be economic equity and justice to all Tennesseans until this microscopic investigation is performed to disclose all alleged economic abuse and inequities that promote systemic racism, implicit bias, and economic disparities in black, brown, and poor white communities.

Gentrification and displacement are the systemic result of these insidious economic manifestations to intentionally push underserved and marginalized Tennesseans further into economic despair. The Right to Work must be abolished, and as the next Governor, I will take this legislative law to task. Certainly, it should never be permanently written in our Tennessee Constitution.

With the spotlight on police brutality, ICE, Memphis Safe Task Force, and judicial misconduct in the State of Tennessee, I diligently believe that we need to revisit term limits, absolute and qualified immunity as it relates to police officers, politicians, and judges.

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I believe that if we, as Tennesseans, work to ensure that we follow the law, then politicians, government workers, judicial actors, and police officers must also follow the law and the Constitution.

As a forward-thinking Governor, I would consider the notion of “citizen-agents” comprising Millennials, Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, Generation Alpha, and any other group that would like to see the State of Tennessee move toward greater equity.

The public is justifiably cynical about the hollow promises of so many lifelong professional politicians who are often purchased with special-interest money. From the responses on my ATWATER FOR GOVERNOR’S questionnaires, large numbers of Tennesseans feel that a political system without limits is a stacked deck. Any system that allows incumbents to amass so much power and attention in office that challengers can rarely win is surely in need of a corrective. Therefore, as the next Governor, I would entertain campaign contribution investigations as it relates to lobbyists, government contracts, and developments.

The fervent miscarriage of justice I received in the Tennessee Judicial System, it led me to run for the Governor of the State of Tennessee. If I can be violated in a judicial system that is supposed to be fair, impartial and render due process, anyone in this State of Tennessee can be violated.

Based on the community questionnaires that were compiled during my campaign engagements, Tennesseans across the State of Tennessee listed their concerns about political and judicial corruption. Political corruption is a difficult concept to define; therefore, I would solicit an array of experts to address this task. A proper definition of corruption requires a multi-dimensional approach.

From my life experience and the feedback of copious Tennesseans, there is a closed-net fraternal order of judicial order that exists in the State of Tennessee that gives way to extrusive abuse of power and overreach of the law, which often goes unpunished due to qualified immunity and no term limits.

Systemic racism, implicit and cultural biases can lead a judicial actor to commit insidious crimes against citizens that sometimes do not have proper legal representation.

Political corruption undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and in the legislature reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the inefficient provision of services. For Tennesseans, it violates a basic principle of democracy regarding the centrality of civic virtue. More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government if procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. Corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance.

Recent evidence suggests that the variation in the levels of corruption amongst high-income democracies can vary significantly depending on the level of accountability of decision-makers. Evidence of recent incidents in the State of Tennessee also shows that corruption and bribery can adversely impact trust in institutions. Corruption can also impact the government’s provision of goods and services. It increases the costs of goods and services, which arise from efficiency loss. In the absence of corruption, governmental projects might be cost-effective at their true costs; however, once corruption costs are included, projects may not be cost-effective, so they are not executed, distorting the provision of goods and services.

“Corruption has a direct impact on the validity of human rights, largely because of two reasons. On one side, corruption deprives societies of important resources that could be used for basic needs, such as public health, education, infrastructure, or security.

On the other hand, corruption has direct damaging consequences in general on the functioning of state institutions, and in particular on the administration of justice. Corruption decreases public trust in justice and weakens the capacity of judicial systems to guarantee the protection of human rights, and it affects the tasks and duties of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and other legal professionals.

By seeking impunity, corruption has a devastating effect on the judicial system as a whole. One of the goals of human rights is to fight corruption and its implications on the administration of justice, and to act against corruption through an independent and strong administration of justice. For this, the United Nations Convention against Corruption is a fundamental instrument for the protection of human rights for Tennesseans. As the next potential Governor, I would actively solicit guidance from the United Nations.

There will be no change in the State of Tennessee until global and outside eyes have shed light on legal atrocities going on in the political and judicial system that have caused great harm to the citizens in the State of Tennessee. When you allow a judge to arrest seven-year-old children, it is time for radical changes in our judicial system that are supposed to protect the welfare of the people.

Corruption in the Tennessee Judicial System undermines the core of the administration of justice, generating a substantial obstacle to the right to an impartial trial, and severely undermining the population’s trust in the judiciary.

Corruption has a variety of faces, bribery being only one of them, another being political corruption, much more unattainable and imprecise. Its broad range of action enables it not only to influence the judicial system, but all the sectors of state administration as well.

I believe also that it is imperative that more women should be equally integrated into the judiciary to simulate the gender perspective and bring equal visibility and representation to the court. I also believe in an intergenerational approach to the judicial stage to bring a healthy balance to the scale of justice; therefore, I am in support of term limits.

TENN B.E.A.R. (BETTER EDUCATION ADVOCACY REFORM) - "PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE A HUMAN RIGHT"

Rescind and abolish the school voucher takeover. To promote true systemic organic change in the public school system, I would encourage and engage a collaboration between parents, teachers, principals, the Tennessee Education Association, Department of Human Services, community leaders, and stakeholders to have a seat at the table for equitable growth and a pathway to teacher control of their classroom again.

All children living in the United States have the right to a free public education, and the United States Constitution requires that all children be given equal educational opportunity, no matter what their race, ethnic background, religion, gender identity, zip code, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or non-citizen. Public education is a human right!

As the next Governor, I stand 100% for public schools, and I am of the belief that vouchers for private charter schools would take funds from public schools and further bring harm to students across the State of Tennessee. Under my leadership, more funding would be allocated to school revitalization in urban and rural communities, classroom supplies, food programs for home outreach, housing assistance for homeless families, and the Teacher’s incentive program.

We must take progressive action to restore the foundation of our public schools. The education of children must become a top priority of our Tennessee policymakers. In an era of shrinking budgets and increasing mandates, my unique leadership, parents’ voices, and teachers’ advocacy are needed to help make a significant difference in preserving our public schools. If political leaders can allocate trillions of dollars to new infrastructure such as hotels and luxury apartments, certainly funds can be used to develop schools for the education of our children, who are our most precious resources.

As you drive across the State of Tennessee, you will encounter public schools that have unsafe playgrounds, mold in schools located in underserved communities, lead in water, outdated classroom technology, a lack of security in schools due to limited SROs, and inadequate extracurricular programs for marginalized students, especially homeless students. In my new administration, I would address the WHOLE CHILD.

Just the mere fact that this present Governor and legislative body have entertained implementing laypersons in teachers’ positions for the next three years is absurd. This is an insult to the professionals who have acquired academic training, professional development, and continuing education. These individuals would never possess the skill sets, classroom management, child development skills, proper disciplinary methods, child assessment protocols, etc. It takes special skill sets to design classroom curricula and lesson plans.

Although this present administration is aggressively pushing vouchers implemented in Tennessee, national studies have proven vouchers to be ineffective at improving academic outcomes. Studies show that students who participate in private school voucher programs actually fare worse academically than students educated in public schools.

In 2022, Governor Bill Lee proposed a partnership with Michigan-based Hillsdale College to open 50 new charter schools across Tennessee. Hillsdale has had some disturbing problems of its own. The merger was later dissolved.

In March 2022, the Tennessean reported, “To make matters worse, voucher programs and charter schools lack adequate oversight and transparency but divert millions of public tax dollars to unaccountable private operators. Charter schools in Tennessee have opened the door to fraud and corruption. Here are just a few of many charter school horror stories in our state:

Memphis Academy of Health Sciences closed, displacing 750 students, after three leaders were indicted for stealing $400,000 for personal use – for trips to Las Vegas, a hot tub, NBA tickets, and auto repair.
New Vision Academy in Nashville shut down after a state and federal investigation into financial irregularities, failure to comply with federal laws concerning special needs students and English language learners, and cramming too many children into classrooms in violation of the fire code. The husband/wife team leading the school of 150 students earned $563,000 per year.
Gateway University Charter School in Memphis shut down after it was accused of falsifying grades, using uncertified teachers, giving credits for a geometry class that didn’t exist, and pulling children out of classes to clean the school’s bathrooms and other areas.
Knowledge Academies in Nashville lost hundreds of thousands of tax dollars in an online phishing scheme (after which its founder and CEO suddenly disappeared); used uncertified teachers; understaffed the school and stopped paying teachers; operated with a deficit of $835,878, despite an annual revenue of $7.1 million; failed to meet federal requirements for English language learners and special needs students; and ran side businesses out of the school building. Nashville shut the school down, but the state forced it back open. It’s now operating with a $7.9 million deficit.
Nashville Global Academy forgot a child on a bus parked offsite all day, misappropriated funds to the tune of $149,000, and collapsed over $400,000 in debt with unpaid bills worth hundreds of thousands of dollars”.

We must stop the political corruption in Tennessee regarding our public schools, and I am prepared as the next incoming Governor to do just that. I am committed to redirecting adequate funds to our public schools, paying our teachers a fair and equitable salary, and supporting our neighborhood schools rather than allocating taxpayers' money to fly-by-night charter schools that have committed atrocities against our students and public schools.

Continuing to privatize Tennessee’s schools through so-called “school choice” initiatives will only increase the chances that our taxes will be misused and wasted through abusive tactics to dismantle our public schools for money.

History has shown that unregulated school privatization will provide our underserved and marginalized students with a substandard education while enriching profit-making entities with no vested interest in Tennessee students. Students in the public schools are our most precious asset, and as the next incoming Governor, I am prepared to bring equity and fairness to all students. Rural schools must provide up-to-date technology in classrooms and broadband home services.

We must strive for a more equitable and inclusive environment in our public school system. Educational equity is about confronting and overcoming the barriers that deprive students of equitable educational opportunities because of their disability, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.

As the next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I am committed to bringing about equity that recognizes children have unique needs and that obstacles to learning must be identified and eliminated. No child should attempt to learn on an empty stomach due to food deserts, lack of sleep because of living in a crime-riddled neighborhood, or surviving in an environment of homelessness.

In order to achieve our ultimate goal, we must address the human rights of our educational system, which has been overlooked by the present administration. We must view our public school system through the lens of human rights to address the holistic child and family.

Human rights education promotes values, beliefs, and attitudes that encourage all individuals to uphold their own rights and those of others. It develops an understanding of everyone’s common responsibility to make human rights a reality in each community, especially our public schools.

As an incoming Governor, I would integrate public education, social, economic, and cultural rights, such as health care, affordable housing, or a living wage as human rights in the educational scheme. A child living in poverty cannot benefit fully from the educational process unless their holistic needs are met by addressing their living arrangements, poverty status, food desert, lack of health care, mental health status, trauma from long-term exposure to crime and deaths, ACEs (Adverse Community Experiences), economic disparities, and disinvestment in their community.

Tennesseans who do not know their rights are more vulnerable to having them abused and often lack the language and conceptual framework to effectively advocate for them. A growing consensus recognizes education for and about human rights as essential thus, this concept must be addressed in our public school system. This concept can contribute to the building of a free, just, and peaceful educational environment that can thrive in the State of Tennessee. Human rights education is also increasingly recognized as an effective strategy to prevent human rights abuses.

WOMEN OPPORTUNITY MANIFESTING EQUITY NOW (W.O.M.E.N.)

W.O.M.E.N. will be an initiative with a multi-layered scope to engage, empower, and restore women's rights, thus securing reproductive justice in a humane and dignified way.

As the next Governor, I would work to ensure that every woman can make the best decisions for herself and her family about whether and when to have a child without undue political interference. My work will encompass a wide range of issues, including securing age-appropriate sex education in our schools, fighting pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, and protecting a woman’s ability to make personal, private decisions about pregnancy or any other reproductive issues.

The uniquely designed W.O.M.E.N. would foster a Domestic Violence counterpart, which would encompass a wrap-around program to secure the safety and well-being of women caught in the cycle of abuse, human trafficking, mental illness, and drug addiction.

The W.O.M.E.N Tennessee Battered Justice counterpart would require that individuals who are the subject of a protective order in domestic violence cases surrender their firearms to the Sheriff's Office or Police Department until the case is resolved. Thus, making it a high priority to adopt the MDA (Moms Demand Action’s Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law. This methodology is a much-needed law to protect domestic victims and could be the nucleus for saving victims’ lives. As the next Governor, I would absolutely embrace the ERPO law to continue this effort to save innocent lives.

The state of Tennessee has not adopted an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) law, often referred to as a "red flag" law, despite advocacy from groups like Moms Demand Action. Instead of passing an ERPO law, Tennessee lawmakers have taken actions to prevent them.

Preemption Law: In May 2024, Governor Bill Lee signed legislation that blocks local municipalities in Tennessee from passing their own version of red flag laws.
Opposition to ERPO: Following the Covenant School shooting in 2023, Governor Lee proposed a version of an extreme risk law. However, the Republican-led General Assembly refused to support it, leading the governor to drop the effort.
Active Opposition: As of late 2025, Tennessee is listed among a handful of states with laws that actively prevent or restrict the adoption of extreme-risk protection orders.
2026 Legislative Session: While some "red flag" legislation was reintroduced by Democrats in early 2025 and 2026, the focus in the legislature has been on strengthening existing procedures for removing guns from domestic abusers rather than a broader "red flag" law.

PROTECTIVE ORDER “PIECE OF PAPER INEQUITABLE JUSTICE” will be a sidebar in the W.O.M.E.N. Initiative.

In the context of post-COVID-19, economic and social stressors have provided the perfect environment for firearm-related domestic violence to thrive, especially with the passage of the permit-less carry gun bill that was signed into law by the present Tennessee Governor, motivated by the NRA. As the next Governor, I am prepared to implement a comprehensive advocacy toolkit to ward off this epidemic of gun violence against domestic victims. The ultimate goal is to restrict access by preventing prohibited parties from purchasing firearms and ammunition.

The W.O.M.E.N Initiative would integrate a Security Number Change for Domestic Violence Victims with a proper legal committee advisory board. Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence. If you are a victim of family violence, harassment, abuse, or life-endangering situations, a collaboration with Social Security may be able to assist these citizens.

Strategic advocates will be employed to assist these victims in developing safety plans that include gathering personal papers and choosing a safe place to go. One of the safety measures to evade abuse and reduce the risk of further violence may be to relocate and establish a new identity. Ascertaining a new Social Security number (SSN) may also be an option. Although it is not routinely appropriate to assign new security numbers, it may be feasible to do so when evidence shows a victim is being harassed or abused, or their lives are endangered.

Applying for a new number is a big decision. A Tennessean’s ability to interact with federal and state agencies, employers, and others may be affected. Their financial, medical, employment, and other records will be under your former SSN and name (if they change your name). If the victims expect to change their names, they will do so before applying for a new number. As the next Governor, I will be very creative in attempting to save the lives of these citizens.

GENTRIFICATION AND DISPLACEMENT EQUITY PLAN (G.A.D.E.P.)

As the next Governor, I have a people’s comprehensive plan to stop gentrification and the displacement of poverty-stricken individuals living in urban sprawl neighborhoods. These individuals have lost hope of being a part of the economic equation of prosperity, but I am listening and will stop the hemorrhage of economic unfairness.

This process is going on all over the State of Tennessee, and no politician wants to address this genocidal act against poor people. Gentrification is “the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process.” In the State of Tennessee, many poor residents are being forced out of their culturally connected communities because of cities catering to the affluent creative class. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning.

Sadly, the former urban ambiance of the urban projects and dilapidated homes is getting an upscale, glamorous makeover at the expense of everyday working-class residents with low-and-middle-income salaries. HUD funding is no longer being allocated to low-income families, but is often given to rich developers to create apartments to rent to the poor, which these individuals will never accumulate generational wealth for their children.

Across the State of Tennessee, citizens living in apartment buildings are slowly being priced out of their hometown or city, but more immediately, Tennesseans are being priced out of their homes.

The new landlord’s rent hikes are massive, scaling up between $400 and $1,000 per month on what were mainly studio apartment rentals. The landlord, described by some tenants as decidedly pleasant at first, claimed the hikes were necessary to keep up with inflation. However, it’s important to point out that landlords know this information at the time of purchase, meaning they bought the building with the full intention of raising these rents by astronomical amounts.

Other luxury apartments are being built in Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Murfreesboro, and Knoxville with the intention of ensuring low-income or moderate-income families will not be able to move in, which is a form of desegregation.

In our questionnaires, Tennesseans demanded answers about unfair treatment and lack of economic investments in their underserved communities, who “raised concerns about gentrification, displacement, and transformations in their communities.”

Poor people are losing their homes in Tennessee because of discriminatory tax lien sales of family properties, while tax incentives are given to large corporations and private investors to displace these economically strapped individuals. Local and state policies regarding tax lien sales have changed, and often deny poor people the right to hold on to their properties.

As the next Governor, I would be focusing on rent-stabilized apartments and rent commission strategies. As a general rule of thumb, landlords of rent-stabilized apartments are only permitted modest rental increases as per some city standards.

TENNESSEE RENTAL COMMISSION

As the next potential Governor, I have a proven record of serving the homeless for decades. Everyone deserves a place to call home. I am an advocate of homelessness to homeownership programs.

Tennesseans are challenged to find safe and habitable housing in their community because of creditworthiness, poverty status, and their criminal record. Underserved and marginalized individuals are either ineligible for or denied housing because of their own or a loved one’s criminal history.

As the potential next Governor of the State of Tennessee, I am interested in advocating and working with the legislative body to support a Housing as a Human Right Bill to ensure affordable housing for every citizen.

A Tennessee Rental Commission is greatly needed in the State of Tennessee to assure fairness and equality for all Tennesseans. Apartments and houses are being sold from under families without a moment's notice. Sending people struggling to find somewhere to live with the City of Memphis in need of 30,000 affordable homes, and this housing scheme is metastasizing all over the State of Tennessee.

In March of 2022, senior citizens were given a short notice to move out of several high-rise apartments where they had lived for twenty years, only to find out that the Memphis Housing Authority had sold their familiar dwelling to an out-of-town investor. These seniors were uprooted from their friends and safety net environment.

These housing atrocities are multi-layered and multi-dimensional. HUD (Housing Urban Development) originally was implemented to assist the low-income and severely low-income to ascertain affordable housing. With the shift in allocating the funds to rich developers and investors, these funds allocated for low-income families are now being routed through to developers to create luxury apartments, which will cause a lack of wealth transfers to black, brown, and poor white children for generations to come. This governmental funding shift will further exacerbate poverty and lack of generational wealth.

In Illinois, landlords can refuse to rent to prospective tenants solely based on a record of arrest, even if the tenant has never been convicted of a crime.

Criminal background checks often contain inaccurate or outdated information. For home seekers, inaccurate background checks can be devastating and can even result in homelessness. This impact extends to families of individuals with records, who also suffer the consequences of housing discrimination.

As a next potential Governor of the State of Tennessee, I am motivated to working with the legislative body to encourage an innovative way of promoting homeownership opportunity or apartment rental by implementing the Restoring Rights and Opportunities Coalition of Tennessee which can lead to the passage of the largest expansion of sealing records in the State of Tennessee for qualified individuals that deserves the American dream of homeownership. Nevertheless, people will still be challenged to access housing even after going through the long process of successfully petitioning the court to seal their record because of the baked-in systemic racism of our governmental practices and policies. Under the current Tennessee law, individuals have no recourse against bad information, including sealed records, appearing on a background check.

By implementing and working with the Tennessee legislature body, the proposed Tennessee Housing Human Rights Act will set standards that landlords cannot just use whatever they get on a background check as a reason for denial; they need to take a closer look for accuracy.

Housing as a Human Right creates a civil rights violation under this proposed Tennessee Housing Human Rights Act to refuse to sell, rent, or otherwise make housing unavailable to any buyer or renter based on:

1. An arrest not leading to the finding of guilt.

2. A juvenile record; or

3. A criminal history record ordered expunged, sealed, or impounded.

The Tennessee Housing Human Rights Act would not be able to use these types of records in a housing decision.

People are more than their records. Everyone deserves the opportunity to be considered as an individual. People with records and their families, like everyone else, deserve a home to build a future.