Fellow Tennessee State Senate District 10 Residents,
Missy Crutchfield has consistently demonstrated on the campaign trail this election season that she shows up, she is in her district, she is listening to the people, and she is interested in working on legislation that betters our lives and protects our freedoms. She is a true public servant.
While her opponent has said to local media that gun safety and women's reproductive health are not priorities this election season, Missy has spent the summer on a Listening Tour across Tennessee State Senate District 10, hearing from the people across her district and she knows that these issues are most definitely priorities to constituents. A poll conducted by Vanderbilt University earlier this year confirms this too.
What sets Missy apart is that she is someone who is fearless when it comes to fighting for what she believes in, standing up against injustices and the status quo, and lifting up the oppressed. At the same time, Missy has the heart of a true servant leader who knows that she doesn't have all the answers and she has a real gift for connecting with people and building community and coalitions across aisles to work together to help better people's lives. This is something that is much needed in this current divided and polarized political landscape. People need to start talking to each other again and working together again, and Missy Crutchfield is more than up to that task.
Missy and her family have a long history in politics, government, and education in Hamilton County and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Missy often shares the story of her father, former State Senator Ward Crutchfield, who brought the first African American man on the floor of the Tennessee State Legislature in the 1950s.
Ward Crutchfield was jeered at and threatened by his colleagues for making such a bold move, but he told them, "Get used to it. He'll be back again."
That young man, named C.B. Robinson, did in fact come back again and years later he went on to serve in the Tennessee State Legislature where Ward's daughter, Missy, served as one of his interns.
The story came full-circle and the legacy of true servant leadership continues today as Missy runs for Tennessee State Senate District 10.
There are few people who will work harder for the people of District 10 than Missy Crutchfield.
For years now I have had a bird's eye view of Missy's leadership as I have had the privilege of working with her as communications director when she was administrator of the city of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture and as we co-founded Be Magazine, a labor of love project that serves to inform, inspire, and empower changemakers, people who are making a difference in the world, and as we worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, the late Arun Gandhi, for many years in uplifting the message of nonviolence and supporting school and youth programs here in the United States and India and South Africa, and around the world.
Missy's passion, vision, energy, and determination are what drive her to wake up every morning thinking about the people of District 10 and spend long days, evening hours, and weekends working the District, meeting the people, and learning what she can do to help better people's lives.
We stand at a crossroads this election year—here in the City of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, and across the State of Tennessee and our Country.
We need leaders who demonstrate the true servant leadership Missy has for years now, serving as a vice president at Chattanooga State, assistant to the Chancellor at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and administrator of the city of Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture, to working as an internationally-recognized activist for human rights, animal advocacy, and climate justice, and now as candidate for Tennessee State Senate District 10.
Join me in supporting a true public servant who listens to the people, shows up for the people, and works hard for top priorities for the people of Tennessee State Senate District 10—Elect Missy Crutchfield on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Melissa Turner