McCalmon Pitches Local Emphasis in Bid for Reelection

District 63 Rep. Jake McCalmon is pitching a platform of protecting children and improving infrastructure in his reelection bid.

“Thing I'm most proud of is [the] steps we've taken to combat human child trafficking,” McCalmon told the Williamson Scene, referring to a bill that was signed into law that extends the statute of limitations in child sex abuse and trafficking cases.

That bill was one of several Republican-led human trafficking bills lobbied by the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition.

“We didn't feel that 15 years was nearly enough time, so we went back and we doubled it,” McCalmon said. “I'm looking forward to, Lord willing, this November getting back in and then going back to work, and I'd really like to extend that same statute to all the victims of sex crimes in the state, for kids and adults as well.”

McCalmon said he's also exploring how to hasten state reimbursements to child advocacy centers for their forensic audits.

The incumbent Republican is running against Democratic nominee and Franklin OBGYN Dr. Laura Andreson.

“Infrastructure is still a major issue,” McCalmon said.

“At the end of the day, we need money for roads. There's an unfortunate perception, I think, up in Nashville, that it's Williamson County, they've got gold-plated, heated streets-Well, no, we've, we've got potholes, just like every other county, and we need state help just as much.”

He also reiterated his support of Gov. Bill Lee's proposed choice lanes.

“I'm a big proponent of them. I think they work,” McCalmon said. “I think anytime that you can bring the private sector in to run something – I think for many, many reasons that we do better as a society.”

McCalmon said that while his children are "thriving" in Williamson County Schools, he remains a supporter of the governor's proposed school voucher plan, an issue that will return to the spotlight when the 114th General Assembly convenes in January.

“I don't think it's going to be this massive exodus out of WCS [Williamson County Schools] or even Franklin Special [District,]” McCalmon said.

“I think you're going to have a few people who look at it and go, ‘Hey, this enables us to make a choice on how we want to educate our kid.’ And, for those kids where Williamson County Schools, as great as they are, aren't working for that family, they now have an option to utilize their tax dollars to educate their child how they see fit in this role.”

“I campaigned on this,” he continued. “I was a school choice guy well before it was even a topic or on the governor's agenda, well before I ever had an inkling of a thought to run for office. I believe that the tax dollars should follow the child. That position has not changed, and I don't foresee it changing.”

While McCalmon states he was a proponent of choice before he decided to run, it was also already a topic of conversation and on the governor’s agenda. McCalmon’s run for office was in 2022 before Gov. Lee announced statewide plans for his Education Scholarship Program in 2023. However, the governor stated during a press conference that school choice has been his legislative priority since he first ran in 2018.

On Oct. 21, the Williamson County Schools Board of Education rescinded their March resolution opposing the proposed voucher plans.

McCalmon touts possibly the largest collection of endorsements in Williamson County's state house races including federal representation from Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Andy Ogles as well as local politicians such as Mayor Rogers Anderson, a slew of County Commissioners and Aldermen, and both the current and former Sheriff.

In September, McCalmon and state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson were named legislators of the year by The 917 Society as part of their annual Constitution Day event. That event featured keynote speaker, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson

Two days later, CNN published a story linking Robinson to sexist and racist posts on a porn website, including a post that read, “Slavery is not bad...I wish they would bring it back, I would certainly buy a few."

The fallout from that story has caused Republicans, including Gov. Lee and former President Donald Trump, to distance themselves from Robinson, who is now suing CNN.

Johnson deleted a photo with Robinson from his social media accounts, but McCalmon did not.

“At the end of the day, the decision that we made was, look, if we take it down right now, there are screenshots already. If we take it down now, it's going to look like, 'Oh, now you're hiding from it.' You can't win for losing in that situation,” McCalmon said.

“If those allegations do turn out to be true, like I said, those are horrible. But, I'll leave that to the courts in North Carolina and Lt. Gov. Robertson to hash that out,” he continued. “Certainly those do not reflect Tennessee values, they don't reflect my values, they don't reflect my campaign's values, like I think you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who would condone that type of activity.”

McCalmon said that personally, “after the Bible, the Constitution is the greatest document ever written.”

He is supporting Trump's reelection bid, despite Trump calling for the “termination” of parts of the Constitution in 2022 while pushing election lies. Trump has also been found civilly liable of sexual assault, one of many legal challenges engulfing the former president, including his federal charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

“These, I'm going to call them sky-is-falling concerns, I don't think you're gonna see any of that come to fruition,” McCalmon said.

“There's a million and three things he could have done when he was president that people were concerned about in 2016, and it just didn't happen … To me, policy is far more important, and then personality, yes,” McCalmon said. “Again, do I wish the former president would be a little bit more delicate with certain things that he says, or not say things in a certain manner? Sure.”

And while “all politics is local,” local is what McCalmon said he'd most focused on.

“What's at stake in my election is a drastic shift in how Williamson County would be represented in Nashville,” he said.

“I ran because I wanted to safeguard this state, safeguard this county and keep it the county that my wife and I want to grow old and retire in – keep it the county that my kids are going to grow up in and hopefully want to stay in.”

Early voting runs from Oct. 16-31, and more information about voting in Williamson County can be found online here.