Former Hamilton County School Board Member Kathy Lennon announced her candidacy for chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.
An educator of more than 25 years and the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee for Tennessee House District 27, Lennon is a lifelong public servant and advocate for education, it was stated.
Ms. Lennon is married to John Lennon, a teacher, and theater director with Chattanooga Preparatory School. Kathy has two children - Stephanie Sumrell Lefevre lives in Chattanooga with her two children Finley and Lorelei Lefevre.
Chris Sumrell and his wife Jennie Newman Sumrell live in Chattanooga with their son James Sumrell.
“We, as a party, have a lot of work to do to be successful in 2026 and beyond,” said Ms. Lennon. “Outgoing Chair Rachel Campbell has done an incredible job at pumping new life into our county party, and I am forever grateful to her for the support she gave to me during my campaign. If we want to be successful moving forward, I believe we need to rebuild our party’s broad coalition, support candidates strategically, and, most importantly, raise a substantial amount of money to be competitive in Hamilton County. We’ve done it before, and I believe we can do it again.”
Rachel Campbell is running for chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party.
Since the November election, Ms. Lennon said she has been advocating to the General Assembly against the Hemp Rule Change using her direct experience with the key role she plays in the family business, FarmToMed. She has also been organizing against Governor Bill Lee’s private school voucher bill - volunteering with Public Schools Strong, urging the Hamilton County School Board to support a resolution against the state voucher program and rallying local public education advocates to organize against the bill.
“Today, Democrats have a responsibility to speak up against the efforts to harm working-class Tennesseans and dismantle public education,” said Ms. Lennon. “I am more proud today than I ever have been to be a democrat, and I am running to be the next chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party to build on our progress and breathe new life into our party in preparation for the 2030 Census and the resulting redistricting process.”
Ms.
Lennon laid out four priorities as chair that she listed:
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Raise Funds to Compete at New Levels: As a former candidate, Lennon knows the critical nature of raising funds to accomplish our goals. Lennon raised more than $100,000 in her recent run for State House, proving her ability to work effectively with large- and small-dollar donors to build an effective budget. As chair, Lennon will assume the role as Chief Fundraising Officer of the party, using her profile and connections to build a budget that meets the needs of the party’s goals.
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Communicate Our Message Most Effectively: The results of the 2024 election showed our need to communicate more effectively. Lennon will advocate for a comprehensive communications strategy that adequately utilizes digital communications to reach new and younger voters, hold elected officials accountable, and elevate candidates to support their campaigns.
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Rebuild Our Coalition and Bring New People to the Table: The Democratic Party is the big tent party. Lennon believes we need to bring organizations that touch every part of our community to the table to more effectively organize and mobilize. That must include, Lennon believes, prioritizing engaging black and brown voters by working with and supporting organizations that are already doing the work. Lennon will recognize the vital contributions of every faction of our party. Through intentional messaging, Lennon believes we need to remind voters every day of how democrats in power means everybody wins: Economic opportunity and mobility through rising wages and reducing costs, reproductive freedom for women without interference from the government, and equal rights for everyone, regardless of where they come from or what they look like.
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Re-engage Our Mobilization Efforts: Democrats need to get organized quickly. Starting even before she is elected, Lennon is recruiting engaged and energized democrats to run for county party officer positions and for the executive committee. Once elected, Lennon will work with leadership to create a strategic plan, charging executive committee members, who are elected by county commission district, to be leaders in their community to organize and engage their democratic neighbors. Lennon believes grassroots efforts to recruit, engage, and support local candidates, supporters, and volunteers is the beginning to the path to victory. That starts with bringing on a slate of county party leadership that is more engaged, excited, and connected than ever before.