Tennessee House of Representatives Candidate Information
 
District 35:
            Jerry Sexton—Republican Party. Serving Claiborne, Grainger and part of Union Counties in District 35 since 2015. He was born on March 9, 1957 in Claiborne County, TN. He is married to Marsha Sexton and has two children, Matthew and Terri. Jerry Sexton Graduated from Walter State University and his profession prior to politics is the owner of a furniture manufacturing facility as well as a Baptist Minister. 
            Some Things Jerry Sexton Stands for: 
He is fundamentally religious and extremely conservative. Many of the bills he has passed oppose LGBT rights and abortion rights. In the past, Sexton has introduced the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act” which is an Anti-LGBT bill and would not have permitted “same-sex” marriage.

District 36:
            Dennis Powers—Republican Nominee. Serving Campbell and parts of Union and Anderson Counties. 
He was born on September 14, 1953 in LaFollette, TN, and is married to Tracy (Adkins) Powers. Dennis Powers has been serving as a Congressman since 2010 in the 36th District. Powers graduated from LaFollette High School and University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Business and Administration. He holds memberships in the “Tennessee Tea Party”, the “Heritage Foundation”, the “American Legislative Exchange Council”, the “National Right to Life”, the “National Rifle Association” (NRA), the “National Federation of Independent Business”, the “Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation”, and the “National Conference of State Legislation.” More information on Bills he has helped to pass or that he is voting on can be found on openstates.org and selecting “Tennessee” in the upper left corner, then clicking “Bills”. 
 
            Marquita Bradshaw—Democratic Nominee. 
Marquita Bradshaw is Currently making History. She is the first black woman to be nominated to the United States Senate from Tennessee, as well as being the first African American Woman to win a major political party nomination in any state-wide race in Tennessee. She is a working woman, and (according to her statements in an interview with Josh Smith with WJHL News) would not consider herself to be Middle Class, but rather, working class. She currently is working two jobs between caring full time for a special needs adult and running for the Senate from Tennessee. 
She was born on February 19th, 1974 in Memphis TN. 
Marquita was raised by parents who were actively involved in their community. They were concerned with the pollution from leaking at the Memphis Depot (Contaminated Military Base). Bradshaw’s parents organized a “concerned citizens committee” because they felt the pollution was causing health issues in those living nearby.
Marquita Bradshaw wants to offer Tennessee the option of a candidate who has the same values and comes from the same background as she does. She considers herself working class and wants to help the working class citizens of Tennessee.