2025 Laura Andreson

Dr. Laura Andreson speaks to a group of Democratic donors in Franklin on Sept. 18, 2025, launching her 2026 campaign for the District 63 state House seat.

 Photo: Hamilton Matthew Masters

Franklin OBGYN Dr. Laura Andreson kicked off her 2026 bid for Tennessee’s state House District 63 seat on Friday, her second attempt to win the seat held by incumbent state Rep. Jake McCalmon (R-Franklin). 

McCalmon defeated Andreson, a Democrat in 2024, but this time she has the support of two prominent Democrats, District 55 state Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) and District 56 state Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville).

On Sept. 18, Clemmons introduced Andreson as “one of my personal heroes” to a group of several dozen Democratic donors at Franklin’s Culamar restaurant, with Freeman urging supporters to donate to the campaigns of Tennessee Democrats and not to races in other states in an effort to break Tennessee’s Republican supermajority.

In 2024, Andreson told the Williamson Scene that her candidacy was “motivated by the urgent need to address and reform Tennessee's stringent abortion law.”

She acknowledges that some saw her as a one-issue candidate in 2024, but said that she’s also focused on addressing the impact of cuts to Medicaid, rising insurance costs, the impact of school vouchers in Williamson County and infrastructure challenges, among other issues in the coming race.

“I’m hoping to build on the base that was created in ‘24,” Andreson says, adding that she is “honored” to receive support from Clemmons and Freeman, which she said will “hopefully build confidence in my campaign.”

Andreson adds that abortion and reproductive healthcare remain an issue for her, one that she argues is becoming increasingly relevant to Tennesseans more than three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Tennessee’s abortion ban went into effect.

“There continues to be laws being brought forward to further affect reproductive rights, some manipulation of IVF [in vitro fertilization] and contraceptive options, and so I think people need to be aware of that as well, because that'll affect even more people,” Andreson says, adding that she believes “There's plenty of other reproductive talking points that may be better able to meet people in the middle.”

On Tuesday, the day after this story was published, McCalmon told the Williamson Scene that he is running for reelection in 2026.

Editor’s note: Rep. Bob Freeman is the owner of Freeman Webb Publishing, the parent company of the Williamson Scene.