TN06 — I’m Merrilee Wineinger’s campaign manager for her run to become the next Congresswoman for Tennessee’s 6th District, and I want to share with you why.
Merrilee offers a refreshing and total polar opposition approach to representing the people of the 6th District than what we’ve had under Diane Black for the past seven years. She genuinely cares about working families and her work proves it.
As an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, Merrilee’s ordination orders are to bring compassion and justice to the world. She embodies the values she lives by daily of honesty, hope, and humility.
These are the very values Merrilee believes are missing from our current leaders in Washington, D.C.
For the past 15 years, she has been on the front lines organizing and advocating for systemic changes. She helped to bring 850 advocates to the state Capitol to rally for Insure TN, Tennessee’ program to expand Medicaid. It was the most people ever to gather at the Capitol.
She organized a campaign to stop the repeal of the ACA and joined community leaders to stop the “Starve the Children” bill. Also, Merrilee worked with faith communities and non-profits to fight against the recent Tax Reform bill providing tax cuts for corporations — instead of where it's needed for working families.
Her work on behalf of the underserved, neglected, and disabled doesn’t end there. Merrilee has worked on issues such as childhood obesity, women’s rights, and immigration reform. She’s marched in D.C. for peace, justice, dignity, and respect for various causes, as well as Nashville for women’s rights and criminal justice.
Merrilee’s spoken truth to power in meetings with U.S. Senators and Congressional staff members in both D.C. and Nashville.
After seven years of a representative who is so out of touch with the majority of residents in the district, Merrilee will bring leadership who is compassionate and dedicated to justice for all.
Merrilee has primary opposition, who is anti-choice and was recently endorsed by the Democrats for Life of America organization. Merrilee believes in protecting a woman’s right to safe, accessible, affordable and high-quality reproductive health care, or as she calls it, reproductive justice.
Merrilee’s first diary entry will publish this Sunday, April 29. We plan to hold hour-long, weekly Q&A sessions here on Daily Kos starting next week as well.
I urge you to learn more about her at her website — www.merrileefortennessee.com — and follow her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MerrileeforTN/, on Twitter, @MerrileeforTN, and on Instagram, @MerrileeforTN.
We need the help of the Daily Kos community’s donations to win in the Aug. 2 primary. Please consider donating at http://bit.ly/DonateToMerrilee.
Thank you for your support. Together, we can flip District 6 to blue!