Allison for Tennessee
Chasing Progress
Ever wondered what it’s like to run for office as a Democrat in the reddest part of a red state?
I did it twice in East Tennessee.
Allison Gorman
My Story
Between 2022 and 2024, I knocked around 13,500 doors. Aging duplexes. Suburban split-levels. Gated communities. Urban bungalows. Trailer parks. Apartment buildings. Historic mansions. Extended-stay hotels. Shotgun homes at the end of gravel roads.
In one hollowed-out small town, I had a man stand on his sagging front porch and tell me angrily that he and his neighbors never voted Democrat because they were “tired of being left behind.” This man was living in an unincorporated area in a red county in a state that’s been red for a dozen years.
I asked him if my opponent, his state rep, had ever stopped by. He said no. (I already knew the answer. My opponent didn’t bother to knock doors.) I asked if he knew his state rep’s name. He said no.
I left knowing he would vote for the Republican who’d never darkened his door, and he’d get more of the policies that had left him and his neighbors behind and most benefited the owners of those mansions.
Yet talking to those thousands of people, especially the ones who feel they have no voice, was one of the best and most illuminating experiences of my life. So I’m leaving the story here. Most of these blog posts began as emails to my supporters. I wanted to share what I was seeing on the ground.
Gerrymandering, voter suppression, and party labels have calcified politics in the South. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I’m not running a third time.
All In For Change
I’m working outside the partisan framework to make the ground in my county more fertile for candidates who want to be public servants. If you live in Hamilton County and you want to get involved, visit AllInChattanooga.org.
My Blog
What Lies Ahead
The mountain we must find our way around I had planned to have two versions of this post ready to go after Election Day, depending on the outcome. As a realist, I was prepared to win or lose. I wasn’t prepared for Trump to win; I’m still processing that. Anyway, in...
The Giving Season
A brief inventory from eight months of knocking doors I was talking with a voter in Middle Valley a few weeks ago when I remarked on the colorful glass fishing-net floats strung from the eaves of his front porch. He seemed surprised that I knew what they were, so I...
Masked Monsters
Every member of the State House and half the members of the State Senate are up for reelection this year. Maybe they’re out knocking doors right now, wearing the masks that get them elected year after year: Friendly real estate agent. Friendly banker. Friendly...
Truth Bombs
Voters just need the facts. They can draw their own conclusions. I’ve been trying to get this email out for ages. I was going to do it last Friday, but then I was told to clear my schedule for a video shoot. My next chance was this morning. That’s the way things have...
Mob at the Door
Imagine you’re at a big gathering at someone’s house. Family, friends, neighbors, some folks you don’t know—you’re all in that house together. Suddenly there’s a mob outside. They start beating on the door.You’ve heard about this mob. If they get in, they’ll...
Making Change
Public service starts with meeting people where they are I’m not used to people chasing me down to give me money. That happened Saturday in Possum Creek. I was walking a stretch of road between houses when a man drove past me in a truck, pulled over, lowered his...
Shifting Positions
Watching the fallout from Tennessee’s abortion ban I was standing at the south end of the Walnut Street Bridge last week when a young man walked up to me and asked, “Can we talk?” I recognized him from the rallies. “Sure,” I said. He said he’d been misled and...
He’s Got a Hat
I got nothing. I was writing my weekly email when a friend texted me this tweet from my opponent. I tossed that email and started writing a new one. Then I tossed that one. If my opponent didn’t know that most people would find this offensive, he does now. Let's just...
Masters and Disasters
Two governments tackle public health In May I knocked the door of a hospital administrator who travels the country studying best practices in public health. One government that’s doing it right, she said, is the Cherokee Nation in northeastern Oklahoma. Cobbling...
Do You See What I See?
Let’s play connect the dots. Dot 1: Tennessee’s public schools are chronically underfunded. We ranked 41st, the last I checked. Dot 2: Tennessee ranks 42nd for K–12 teacher pay. In Hamilton County, the average pay for a public school teacher with a master’s degree is...
Questions for Our Tennessee Friends Who “Vote for the R”
If you're a Tennessean who votes R, I have a question: do you consider yourself one of the most conservative people in the entire United States? According to the Conservative Political Action Committee, based on our recently passed state laws, Tennessee is the...
String Theory Revisited
Last year I wrote a newspaper op-ed called “String Theory,” about our state government’s habit of turning away federal funds—Tennesseans’ own tax dollars, intended to help Tennesseans in need—because of the “strings” attached. I suggested “strings” meant having to...
Allison for Tennessee
email: allisongormantn@gmail.com