Matlock, Miller vie for Senate
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Matlock
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Miller
State Senate District 5 residents will have two new candidates from which to choose for state senator in the Nov. 3 general election.
With the retirement of Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, who has served as state senator since 1987, Jimmy Matlock (R-Loudon County)and David Miller (D-Oak Ridge) are running for the District 5 Senate seat. Matlock and Miller both advanced from the Aug. 6 primaries.
McNally announced his retirement in February, citing health concerns. Ending a legislative career spanning 40 years, he has represented District 5 in the state senate for 10 terms.
Miller, a retired longtime educator, is
making his first run for state office.
“I’m already on the Anderson County School Board — I’m the only Democrat on the school board — and I worked in the last presidential election
down in Savannah for [the National Education Association],” he said. “They had a program where people could volunteer to go to battleground states, so I worked down there for five weeks in the presidential campaign.
“When the election was over … I just decided if there was anything else I could do to step up in the situation we’re in that I would do it,” Miller said. “I explored the options and decided the best thing for me to do was to run in District 5.”
Miller taught in public schools, correctional facilities and a drug abuse prevention center, as well as creating hands-on vocational and drug education programs. He served as chairman of a special education department and subsequently taught English as a second language.
“I’ve always believed in putting people first and finding practical solutions that work for everyone,” he said. “There needs to be a strong voice against this voucher program, which is wasting our taxpayers’ dollars, giving money to people who are already sending their kids to private schools.
“There’s a lack of accountability,” Miller said. “The private schools have shown their test scores are not even on par with public schools.”
He also wants to see universal prekindergarten, which he said would help the economy.
“I think there’s money in the budget for these things,” Miller added.
As a senator, he said he would fight for strong public schools, tax-free groceries and “people over profits.”
For Matlock, the opportunity to run was unexpected.
“This is kind of a surprise,” he said about his decision to run for the District 5 seat. “I certainly had no thoughts of getting in a seat [McNally] held.
“But,” he added, “it’s an opportunity to serve eight years after I left in a different chamber.”
Matlock has previous state legislative experience, having represented District 21 in
the Tennessee House of Representatives from 2007 to 2018.
Matlock said fellow Republicans then asked him to seek the District 5 seat.
“[McNally’s] retirement opened up the district for someone to step in behind him,” he said. “He hadn’t indicated when he was going to retire.
“He’s beloved, served the district and the state 48 years exceptionally well as a senator and then was elected by his peers to be lieutenant governor 10 years ago and served that,” Matlock said of McNally.
But once McNally announced his retirement, Matlock said, “people called and were very kind in their comments, and so I thought the process has begun.
“Over a period of days and weeks, the doors kind of opened for me,” he said.
Matlock has owned Matlock Tire and Auto Repair Service since 1982, with locations in Farragut, Lenoir City, Hardin Valley, Athens and Maryville.
As a business owner, “I have been in customer service my entire life,” he said. “Public service is really much the same.
“If you want to accomplish for people what their needs are, if you’re a good listener, if you have the ability to be accessible for folks when they ask questions, if you’re responsive to those questions, if you find that it’s something that you are similarly are capable of, you can do that,” Matlock said. “And, I have done it for six terms in the House, so I had a chance to know how the process works.
“It’s not for the weak of spirit or faint of heart,” he said regarding public service.
Matlock said he is not running on any particular agenda.
As in customer service, “I think I’ve got the ability to reason through issues,” he said. “I’m not hyperpartisan. While I am a conservative Republican … I have many, many friends who politically would say they are on a different side, but they know if they come to me, they may not get exactly the answer they
seek, but they know they’re always going to get someone who tells them the truth, someone who will work hard to try to help them, and once elected, I’ve been able to set aside the party affiliations and represent everybody.”
