Chris Rowe
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Chris Rowe (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Tennessee's 1st Congressional District. He lost in the Democratic primary on August 6, 2020. Rowe unofficially withdrew from the race but appeared on the primary election ballot on August 6, 2020.
Rowe completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Rowe earned a B.S. in computer/information systems and information security from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, in May 2018. He served in the United States Air Force from 2008 to 2014.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Tennessee's 1st Congressional District election, 2020
Tennessee's 1st Congressional District election, 2020 (August 6 Republican primary)
Tennessee's 1st Congressional District election, 2020 (August 6 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Tennessee District 1
Diana Harshbarger defeated Blair Walsingham, Steve Holder, and Josh Berger in the general election for U.S. House Tennessee District 1 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Diana Harshbarger (R) | 74.7 | 228,181 | |
| Blair Walsingham (D) | 22.5 | 68,617 | ||
| Steve Holder (Independent) | 2.8 | 8,621 | ||
| Josh Berger (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 4 | ||
| Total votes: 305,423 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 1
Blair Walsingham defeated Chris Rowe (Unofficially withdrew) and Larry Smith (Unofficially withdrew) in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 1 on August 6, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Blair Walsingham | 52.7 | 6,076 | |
| Chris Rowe (Unofficially withdrew) | 33.6 | 3,869 | ||
| Larry Smith (Unofficially withdrew) | 13.6 | 1,572 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 3 | ||
| Total votes: 11,520 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 1
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Tennessee District 1 on August 6, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Diana Harshbarger | 19.2 | 18,074 | |
| Timothy Hill | 16.7 | 15,731 | ||
| Rusty Crowe | 16.1 | 15,179 | ||
| Josh Gapp | 14.2 | 13,379 | ||
| Steve Darden | 12.4 | 11,647 | ||
| John Clark | 9.4 | 8,826 | ||
| David Hawk | 5.0 | 4,717 | ||
| Nichole Williams | 3.0 | 2,803 | ||
| Jay Adkins | 1.7 | 1,635 | ||
| Carter Quillen | 0.9 | 853 | ||
| Richard Baker | 0.3 | 298 | ||
| Chad Fleenor (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.3 | 282 | ||
| Phil Arlinghaus | 0.3 | 274 | ||
| Robert Franklin | 0.2 | 229 | ||
| Chuck Miller | 0.2 | 189 | ||
| Chance Cansler | 0.2 | 147 | ||
| Total votes: 94,263 | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Cody Williams (R)
- Dan Street (R)
- J. S. Moore (R)
- Todd McKinley (R)
- Dustin Decal (R)
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Chris Rowe completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Rowe's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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1. Environmental policy - reforming our system to focus on green energy and solutions rather than relying heavily on fossil fuels and subsidizing them while they destroy our planet.
2. Healthcare - Medicare for all is a major, important step we can and should take as a nation to bring our healthcare system up to the standard of every other developed nation and stop bankrupting families by the millions.
The number one public policy that I'm passionate about has to be healthcare. If not for how broken our healthcare system is, I wouldn't have seen my father so broken down that he could barely move, even while he worked to keep a roof over his family's head. If not for the fight that followed in trying to get him treatment without bankrupting myself, him, and everyone else we knew, I wouldn't have been motivated to step up and fight for that change myself. It was one of those things where you know this thing is broken, but you don't realize the immediacy of the issue until you're staring it in the face, and I don't want anyone else to have to face their hard-working family the way I did and see them so broken in spite of decades of breaking their back to support their spouses and children.
I very much look up to my father. Watching and learning from him while growing up taught me how to be strong, but compassionate. To speak up when you see wrong, but still willing to listen to different opinions. I don't agree with him on a number of things, but if I'm half as good a man as my father, I'll consider myself a success.
I don't know about a specific book or essay, but there's a short quote that's been close to my heart throughout the political process, most often attributed to Marcus Aurelius:
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
There are a great many characteristics which are important for representatives, but to name the most important ones offhand: integrity, a mind for serving the people over yourself, and a willingness to do the right thing, even and especially when pressured otherwise.
I was always raised to stand up for others, especially people who are unable to stand up for themselves. Between that, having a solid moral center independent of public opinion, and a genuine desire to improve the lives of all my fellow Americans, I believe I have the most important qualities of a public representative well in hand.
I believe the core responsibility of any member of Congress is to work towards improving the lives of everyone in their district through legislative solutions, but that's only one small facet of it. They also must serve as the public face of their district, and they're expected to be an anchor through tumultuous times, prepared to shoulder the weight of any and all failings they or their staff may have. They're expected to be answerable to each of their constituents, and should be available and answerable for each vote they take or avoid.
I would like to be remembered as someone who rose to meet an exceptional challenge at a time when our country faced its most divided time in decades, and who worked to heal that divide by bridging the gap between our different exploited communities and helping people obtain a mutual understanding of one another's unique situations.
The first major historical event that I remember is the World Trade Center attack on 9/11. I was 13 years old, so obviously there were other memorable events in my life before it, but nothing that shook the foundation of American society the way 9/11 did. It was a level of evil that was difficult to comprehend for a teenager, but it was also so much more than that. In the days and weeks that followed I saw my country forget so many petty squabbles between individuals and, for the first time in my life, I believed that America at large was capable of being one cohesive country no matter how many subcultures we had. It was an inspiring moment of beauty from such an ugly act of hate, and I only wish we'd held on to that spirit longer than we did.
My very first job was a 2-week temp job. I was 15, and I had to dress up as a giant snowman mascot outside a Hallmark store for $10/hr. It was in Las Vegas, so while it was technically Winter, it didn't matter. It was 80 out every day, and it made for a pretty miserable experience standing in that suit in the sun.
Well, the most awkward thing that immediately comes to mind was someone I only went out with once. We met for dinner at a nice restaurant, and everything was going relatively well. We shared a lot in common, and seemed to be really hitting it off. But, as soon as dinner was over things got bumpy. We'd agreed to go to the movies, and had agreed on a movie that I can't even remember any more. But, when we got to the theater, she saw that one of the Twilight movies was playing, and demanded we change to that. I protested, but she was quite insistent. I ended up coming up with an excuse not to go to the movies, dropped her off back at home, and that was that. I don't know what made her so set on that movie specifically, but an attitude like that on a first date over a movie was a big enough red flag to me that I was ready to move on.
My favorite holiday is New Year's. I really enjoy the theme of moving on and giving one another a fresh start, even if you've previously had disagreements or done someone wrong. I just think it's nice to have a holiday that's focused on the future rather than the past or even the now.
I very much like Flowers for Algernon. It's a sad story, but it very poignantly highlights how important it is to be sympathetic to people with circumstances which differ from our own, whether due to physiological and psychological circumstances, or simply a more or less fortunate life from birth. The focus, in particular, on how our treatment of people can directly affect their performance and their lives in drastic ways is very moving for me.
I'd like to be Superman, the boy scout that always has the right answer immediately, but I suspect I'd have a lot more association to Bruce Wayne. Ready, willing and able to do the right thing, while still prepared to make the difficult decision when the occasion calls for it.
It's not really a "thing," but if I were to single out the best part of my home that isn't a human, I'd have to say my dog, Bear. I've had him since I rescued him while he was ~6 months old, and he's moved across the country with me twice. Poor guy is the only dog I've ever seen that hates car rides, they make him so nervous he throws up. He's been a trooper through the moves though, and I couldn't ask for a better canine companion. He always makes a rough day better when I get home and see how excited he is to see me.
Istanbul (not Constantinople). It's just one of those songs that comes back to you once in a while and it hit me the other day, I spent a while just humming it to myself.
Well, among many other things, finding a concrete direction. I grew up, like many young people today, in a world where my parents' careers wouldn't make for viable job paths. Between the cost of education to be prepared for them, the very low starting pay even for a qualified candidate, and simply not being invested in the same fields they were, it was easy to feel lost. It wasn't until I joined the military and became a public servant that I felt as though I was doing anything really meaningful, and it's the drive I gained from that service that makes me want to serve my nation in a different capacity.
I believe the best redistricting process involves independent, nonpartisan districting committees. Allowing any party control over the way district lines are drawn is inherently undemocratic, and is a practice which never should've started in the first place.
The US House of Representatives is unique as an institution because it serves in a somewhat hybrid federal and state capacity. That is: the Representatives therein are distinctly representing their districts on the federal level, but most Congressional districts are small enough that they still allow the Congressmen an opportunity to interact with many of their constituents directly when they're in their home districts. Despite the fact that many current Representatives don't opt to take the time to go around and meet with average constituents, instead opting to hold campaign events and photo ops when they come home for visits, I believe this is an important bridge that more Representatives should be working to cross.
Yes and no. I believe it takes a mix of both old and new Representatives to build the best Congress we can. Having seasoned and experienced leaders is always important, especially in a governing body, but we should also be bringing fresh, young ideas to the table with new faces as well.
There are two major, existential threats to America in today's world, one of which is also a global threat: the environmental crisis which threatens the entirety of human existence, and the division we've seen grow exponentially in recent years. Obviously the environmental issue cannot be solved by America alone, but we've done the world at large no favors by refusing to join a global environmental agreement, and we owe it to ourselves and future generations to step up to the plate and make some real progress towards a cleaner future before it's too late. The division issue, on the other hand, is entirely our own making. We repealed legislation preventing news outlets from pushing heavily biased coverage, and at the same time saw the rise of a brand new multimedia network that worked to legitimize extremely outlandish views and shift the range of what was "normal" in our political discourse. Until and unless we start holding both our media and our politicians liable for blatant lies and misdirection, we're not likely to see much progress made in reconnecting our country.
I would like to be a part of the Ways and Means and Veterans' Affairs committees. Those are two major places where I believe I could make some substantial progress in improving American lives.
I'm actually conflicted on this. In a perfect world, I'd like to think the terms would be longer to minimize general political fatigue among the populace, but given the way Washington works - and has worked for quite some time - two years feels almost too long at the same time. All that taken into consideration, I'd say it's appropriate; it gives us a frequent opportunity to unseat people who don't represent us properly, while still allowing seated Representatives ample opportunity to make a difference and show their constituents what they can do.
Term limits should be in place in all public offices. While there are some representatives who've served honorably for many terms, it's much more common that a person loses sight of why they're in office in the first place once they've been there for long enough. It would be a service to everyone if bringing in new representatives after 4-5 terms, maximum, were codified into law everywhere rather than just for the presidency.
Perhaps at some point, but I would much prefer to get my feet underneath me as a Representative for at least one term before crossing into any leadership roles.
I'd like to think I take inspiration from many of our past Congressmen, but if I were to choose one, someone that stands out is Abraham Lincoln. Even before he was president, he was a Representative who worked hard to make progress happen. He believed in serving the people and compromising where necessary to make important gains. His overall views weren't perfect, and he's far behind the times by today's standards, but he had the courage to introduce new and progressive ideas coupled with the wisdom and patience to push for and enact them when it was most appropriate.
As much as I hate to single out any one story among all the ones I hear, there's one that stands out to me when I read this question. It was at the end of a long day, after having been to two events already, when at the third a man approached me. He shared his story with me: he was a retired rail worker, and his pension was very likely to be cut because there was no legislation in place to prevent it. He contacted my incumbent - a man I'd seen at an earlier event, congratulating himself for all the great things he'd done for his constituents - and told him the same thing. When he did, they asked what would happen if his pension actually were to be cut, and he told them the proposed cuts would cause him to lose his house. They thanked him for his time, and then did nothing whatsoever to help. Worse, they continued to push anti-worker legislation that would encourage even more stories like this man's to happen right in my home district. The contrast between the two events, and hearing this man's story, really struck a chord with me. It was probably the worst day I've had on the campaign trail to date, but it's stories and people like him that remind me exactly why it's so important we get new representation.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2019
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
Americans, ALL Americans, deserve a basic standard of living. This includes healthcare, living wages, and a habitable planet for our future. It's important that our representatives recognize these basic truths, and are prepared to contribute to making a better future by fighting for our children's educations, both K-12 and collegiate, and making sure they're funded. Is there anything you would like to add? Chris Rowe pledged from day 1 to not accept any corporate PAC money, and to be open and transparent with voters by never misrepresenting a policy or endorsing any policy he doesn't fully support.[2] |
” |
| —Chris Rowe[1] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
Senators
Marsha Blackburn (R)
Bill Hagerty (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
Tim Burchett (R)
District 3
District 4
Scott DesJarlais (R)
District 5
Andy Ogles (R)
District 6
John Rose (R)
District 7
Mark Green (R)
District 8
David Kustoff (R)
District 9
Steve Cohen (D)
Republican Party (10)
Democratic Party (1)
