Why I Am Suspending My Campaign

Running for public office has been one of the truly great experiences of my life.  It has been an absolute pleasure to run as a Democratic Party candidate in Hamilton County.

However, I am announcing that effective today, I am suspending my campaign for the Tennessee House of Representatives, District 26.

I want to thank the many people who have supported, contributed to and volunteered for my campaign.  I wis h to acknowledge two very special people within the Hamilton County Democratic Party - Paul Smith (HCDP Chair) and Stephen Harper (HCDP Treasurer) as they were the first to encourage my candidacy.  And, I am especially proud of those Democratic candidates who appeared on the ballot with me.  It is a great group.  I urge all who supported me to turn their attention to electing our candidates for House (JoAnne Favors, Sandy Norton Smith, and Frank Eaton), and Andrae McGary (TN Senate District 10), and, of course, Dr. Mary Headrick as our next Congressional Representative in District 3.

I have been offered the opportunity to lead the National Institute of Staff and OrganizationalDevelopment (NISOD), an outreach arm of the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin focusing upon community and technical colleges.  Since 1978, NISOD has been dedicated to the professional development of faculty, administrators, and staff, and to the continued improvement of teaching and learning, with the ultimate goal of student success.  More than 500 community colleges around the world are NISOD-members, including almost every large community college district, the majority of urban and technical colleges in the United States and Canada, and more than 200 small, rural colleges around the world.  NISOD’s annual International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence, held each May in Austin, Texas, has been the largest conference targeting community colleges for the last six years.

 
I will accept the offer and plan to begin as NISOD Director on September 1.  

Please follow me on Facebook and Twitter - I want to stay connected to my friends in Hamilton County.