Allison Gorman
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Allison Gorman (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent District 26. She lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Gorman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Allison Gorman was born in California. She earned a high school diploma from St. Agnes Academy, a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee in 1984, and a graduate degree from East Carolina University in 1987. Her career experience includes working as a paralegal, writer, and editor. She has been affiliated with the North Chattanooga Neighborhood Association and Moms Demand Action.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26
Incumbent Greg Martin defeated Allison Gorman in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Greg Martin (R) | 62.1 | 24,582 |
 | Allison Gorman (D)  | 37.9 | 14,986 | |
| Total votes: 39,568 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26
Allison Gorman advanced from the Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26 on August 1, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Allison Gorman | 100.0 | 2,440 |
| Total votes: 2,440 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26
Incumbent Greg Martin advanced from the Republican primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26 on August 1, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Greg Martin | 100.0 | 4,116 |
| Total votes: 4,116 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gorman in this election.
2022
See also: Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26
Incumbent Greg Martin defeated Allison Gorman in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Greg Martin (R) | 63.9 | 15,039 |
| Allison Gorman (D) | 36.1 | 8,506 | |
| Total votes: 23,545 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26
Allison Gorman defeated Tim Roberts in the Democratic primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26 on August 4, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Allison Gorman | 86.4 | 3,090 |
 | Tim Roberts | 13.6 | 488 | |
| Total votes: 3,578 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26
Incumbent Greg Martin advanced from the Republican primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 26 on August 4, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Greg Martin | 100.0 | 6,881 |
| Total votes: 6,881 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| 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. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Allison Gorman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gorman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I was raised in Memphis by my mother after my father was killed in Vietnam. I attended Catholic schools and went to UT Knoxville, where I majored in journalism. I was editor of the student paper and was the top graduate in the College of Communications. I met my husband Tim there. We've lived in Chattanooga (D26) for nearly 30 years and raised our three daughters here. I was a stay-at-home, work-from-home mom, and I continue to work from home as an editor and writer. I never had political ambitions, but I've always paid attention politics and I've volunteered for political campaigns, supporting candidates I considered smart, ethical, pragmatic, and most likely to work selflessly and without political prejudice on behalf of their constituents. I was first asked to run for public office in 2022, and my gut answer was no. I said yes only after it occurred to me that, with my last child launched, I actually had the ability to do it. Most people (especially most women) can't run for office, and of course the people w/ the least ability to run for office are the least represented in our state government and therefore the most likely to be negatively impacted by our laws. Those people--kids, workers w/ inflexible jobs, parents of little kids, caregivers of any type--need advocates in Nashville. Wealthy corporations & special interest groups have lobbyists and deep pockets. You can see their fingerprints all over our laws. I'm running for the rest of us.
- I will listen to my constituents. The people of TN are not being heard by our state government. If we were, we wouldn't keep getting laws we weren't asking for, like the new "guns in schools" law, which is unpopular with teachers and parents. Not a single school system in TN has opted in. If we were being heard, the legislative supermajority in the State House wouldn't have put out a statement refusing to consider a red flag law *prior* to the 2023 special session called for that purpose. Most registered voters in TN support such a law. The problem spans a variety of issues, from public ed to health care and reproductive rights. Refusing to listen to people and respond to their needs is not representation.
- I will serve my constituents. Most TNeans are not being served by our state government. TN reached #1 in the US for GDP growth a couple of years back. That same year, with 1 being best and 50 being worst, we were 41st for median household income; 42nd for food insecurity; 42nd for people with delinquent auto loans; 44th for people with medical debt in collections; 44th for financial well-being; 44th for hourly wages for women; 47th for hourly wages for high school graduates; and 49th for bankruptcy. Our big corporate tax breaks should be the means to an end: improving the lives of Tennesseans. That's not happening. If I were a business owner & that was what my management team produced after a dozen years, I'd hire a new team.
- I believe in honesty and transparency. My top skill is communication, and I will make sure that my constituents understand what I'm doing in Nashville and why. I have an open mind. As someone trained in journalism, my default always is to learn as much about a subject as I can, and to talk to people from all sides, before I make a decision. TN has many, many lawmakers who refuse to do this. They routinely legislate on issues they know nothing about while refusing to listen to the relevant experts (e.g., law enforcement, doctors, teachers, ordinary people with lived experiences). As a result we have laws that are at best ineffective; some are counterproductive or even dangerous. Humility is in short supply in our legislature.
I'm willing to bet that most Tennesseans have a friend or family member with mental illness and/or addiction. I'm no exception. As someone who's tried to help others find psychiatric care or addiction treatment, I've seen firsthand that both can be very hard to access in Tennessee. We can absolutely do better, and we have to be willing to try. The best solutions are multifaceted, and in the case of addiction not just based on punishment, so that people have a real opportunity to overcome these obstacles and become productive citizens. I'd start by seeing what other states and even some counties are doing well. No need to reinvent the wheel. Wilson County is doing amazing work with opioid treatment, for example.
My parents. My dad was a medevac pilot KIA in Vietnam. He was brave and selfless. My mom raised my sister and me alone while also struggling with severe bipolar disorder. We were extremely close, but it took me a lot longer to understand that she was brave and selfless too. She was one of the most intuitive, compassionate people I've ever known. She had no tolerance for cruelty or small-mindedness, and she placed a high value on education. I'm incredibly lucky to have had her as a mom.
There are two. Catch-22 paints a great portrait of absurd government (in this case the military) and self-defeating systems. Demon Copperhead, a fairly recent book, puts a human face on the opioid crisis in Appalachia. Seems to me that many of Tennessee's laws and policies, particularly how we allocate resources, are grounded in judgment (feelings) rather than data (what we know works). There are humans at the other end of our laws. It's critical to remember that.
Integrity. Empathy. Intelligence. Open-mindedness. Strong work ethic.
Integrity, empathy, and open-mindedness.
To truly listen to their constituents and advocate for them, both through lawmaking and by providing help with or solutions to individual problems when it's appropriate and possible. To communicate with constituents so they know what's happening in their state government--providing full and truthful information in a simple, straightforward say. (Most state government news is behind a paywall, so people have no idea what's happening there. They need to know.) To serve as a fiduciary for constituents, someone who can be trusted to act solely in their best interest. To actively avoid corrupting influences, like corporate money. To educate themselves on the issues so they're voting in an informed way. To fight the human instinct toward tribalism, which leads to lazy legislating. To fulfill the most important requirements of state government: ensuring public safety, giving every resident an opportunity to be healthy and well educated, and maintaining and improving public lands and infrastructure. To stay out of people's private lives and personal decisions.
I'd like to be known as someone who worked every day to help people and make their lives better.
The moon landing. We went to a neighbor's house to watch it on a "big" TV. I was six.
I did some babysitting when I was younger, but my first official-feeling job was working as a receptionist in a law office. I did that off and on, basically as a temp, until my sophomore year in college.
At the moment, Demon Copperhead
Usually the characters I love best go through some serious stuff, and frankly I've already done that, so I'll be happy just to read about them and not be them.
Devout by Roadkill Ghost Choir
Being raised by a single mom with mental illness was difficult, just because it felt like nobody was steering the ship a lot of the time. But I also think the experience made me a more empathetic and thoughtful person, and unlike a lot of kids in worse circumstances, I always knew I was intensely loved. My life now is very good. I'm incredibly fortunate to have a close family, with everyone healthy. I struggle to not spill things and not things over. I'm a klutz.
I think government should be as close as possible to the people. So ideally in Tennessee, where there are real cultural and economic differences among and within the three “grand divisions,” the legislature would play a stronger role than it does in guiding policy. That said, many of the members of our current legislative supermajority seem, like our current governor, to be dedicated solely to fulfilling the wishes of the corporate donors and special interest groups that fund their campaigns, to the degree that they’ve been openly hostile to their own constituents (including their own voters) whose wishes are different. That’s the misalignment we need to fix. Getting corporate money out of our politics would be a great start.
Our greatest challenge will be to restore governance that reflects the will of the people and that works to benefit the people. We’re far from that place now. Many of our state laws and policies are unpopular with most Tennessee voters (e.g., permitless carry and the near-total abortion ban). At the same time our state government refuses to consider polices that most Tennesseans want (e.g., medical marijuana). After thirteen years of one party’s economic policies, major corporations are doing well here, but many Tennessee households are struggling, and state services are funded at subsistence levels. We need to restore balance so that we’re both business friendly and family friendly. We shouldn’t be one at the expense of the other. We're way out of whack, and frankly it will take political balance to restore what's been lost after thirteen years of a Republican supermajority.
Sometimes. The question is whether that experience comes with a heaping helping of political ambition. They tend to go together, and I don’t think that combination makes for the best public servant, which is what a state legislator should be. I’ll take the smart and dedicated newbie whose only ambition is to serve.
Very much so. Every relationship is a set of opportunities to move the needle in a positive direction.
Not one in particular, no.
There are so many. One conversation that’s stuck with me was when I stood on the front porch of a modest house and talked to several of the people who lived there: grandmom, mom, and young-adult daughter, who was holding a baby. They told me they hadn’t planned to live together but they couldn’t afford to live any other way, even though every adult in the household was working fulltime. The grandfather, who was around 70, had been putting of orthopedic surgery for as long as possible because they couldn’t be without his paycheck for the three weeks he’d miss work. I’ve talked to so many folks like this. They’re not lazy. They’re working their behinds off and barely keeping their heads above water. Heard in an interview with someone from United Way recently that TN is 49th for the help it provides to struggling families with young kids, and 40% of TN families are struggling. Our state is failing them.
I can't.
I think the legislature should set the limits of those powers proactively.
Given that I’d be a member of the legislative minority in a state where the supermajority has been passing unpopular, dangerous laws (especially regarding health and public safety), my first goal will be to mitigate the damage done by those laws. I’ll introduce whatever bill has the best chance of passing, in the best interest of Tennesseans.
I've received endorsements from Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, Tennessee Families for Vaccines (basic childhood vaccines like MMR), and the Center for Freethought Equality
Health, Civil Justice, Education Instruction
A citizen-led ballot initiative process, with a petition, etc., would be excellent for our state. The way it works now in Tennessee is that any ballot initiative has to come from a legislator. So right off the bat, given how much influence corporate PACs and special interest groups have on our legislators, we're going to end up with initiatives that almost certainly aren't what the people are clamoring for. Then the name and language of those initiatives are workshopped to elicit "yes" votes (hence the anti-union initiative euphemistically called "Right to Work"). Then those initiatives are marketed to voters through professional ad campaigns funded by the same interests that will be benefit from the ballot initiates. Works like a charm. Tennesseans always vote yes to ballot initiatives.
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.
2022
Allison Gorman completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gorman's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I'm a journalist and editor who has raised three daughters in D26 while working from home. I believe our state laws should be written with the same level of diligence as the best journalism: grounded in facts and data, with input from subject-matter experts as well as ordinary people impacted by the matter at hand. Before we write or pass a law, we should always understand its potential human and economic consequences. Ultimately, the role of state lawmakers is simple: to use their limited time and the state’s limited tax dollars as efficiently as possible to help as many people as possible. In TN, that hasn’t been happening. Laws are being introduced and passed solely for the purpose of energizing an extreme base. These laws are divisive and damaging. They don’t help anyone, and they hurt people who are already hurting. Tennesseans have also been harmed by the top-down politicization of healthcare and education. Our state government needs to get out of the business of bullying and grandstanding and back into the business of helping improve the lives of everyday Tennesseans. That’s true representation.
- Everyone in Tennessee has seen or personally experienced the medical and financial damage caused by lack of access to health care. Our state has high rates of chronic disease. It’s the top state for medical bankruptcies. It’s the second-highest rate for rural hospital closures, because patients can’t pay for treatment. When we let people get sick because they can’t afford to see the doctor, when we let them go bankrupt from medical bills, when we force them to use the ER for primary care, we all pay for that. My first focus will be expanding Medicaid in TN. Federal funds are on the table to get around 400K more Tennesseans covered. Studies show there’s no economic downside; we’d come out ahead. It’s time to act.
- Tennessee has been disinvesting from public schools for years. That’s economically disastrous. When we give our children a good education, we put them on track to become successful adults: the skilled workers who attract major employers, the entrepreneurs who start new businesses, the visionaries who lift up communities. Last year Tennessee ranked 44th out of 50 states for how much funding it devotes to its K–12 schools. I’ll work to restore full funding to our traditional neighborhood schools, which can be catalysts for positive grassroots change. I will actively oppose current efforts to politicize public school curricula and materials and to siphon tax dollars from public schools to privately run charter schools with a political agenda.
- People are disgusted with government, and D26 offers the perfect example of why. First, it’s not an extreme right-wing district—on the contrary, it’s politically diverse—but the laws pushed and passed by our state reps have been extreme, completely out of step with the majority of constituents. We have plenty of real problems that need solving, but those have been ignored in favor of divisive laws and rhetoric. Second, we’ve seen political corruption firsthand. Our last elected state rep abused her office for personal gain. She committed a felony, lied about it, then pled guilty. People in D26 just want a responsive rep who will help them with problems that need resolution at a higher level. That shouldn’t be too much to ask.
The first is mental health care—or the lack thereof—in Tennessee. I know from experience with my own family members that it’s very difficult to get mental health care here even if you have insurance. There aren’t enough providers. People with mental health issues are at high risk of being crime victims, being shot by police, or being incarcerated. We must find funds and partnerships to expand access to mental health care in TN. The second is felon disenfranchisement. Nearly half a million Tennesseans, and one in five black Tennesseans, can’t vote because they have a prior felony conviction. Almost all of them have served their time. TN makes it almost impossible to restore your rights if you’re poor. That’s deliberate, and it’s wrong.
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.
Campaign finance summary
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Tennessee House of Representatives District 26 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 4, 2024
Current members of the Tennessee House of Representatives
Leadership
Speaker of the House:Cameron Sexton
Majority Leader:William Lamberth
Minority Leader:Karen Camper
Representatives
District 1
John Crawford (R)
District 2
Bud Hulsey (R)
District 3
Timothy Hill (R)
District 4
Renea Jones (R)
District 5
David Hawk (R)
District 6
Tim Hicks (R)
District 7
District 8
Jerome Moon (R)
District 9
Gary Hicks (R)
District 10
Rick Eldridge (R)
District 11
Jeremy Faison (R)
District 12
Fred Atchley (R)
District 13
Robert Stevens (R)
District 14
Jason Zachary (R)
District 15
Sam McKenzie (D)
District 16
District 17
Andrew Farmer (R)
District 18
Elaine Davis (R)
District 19
Dave Wright (R)
District 20
Tom Stinnett (R)
District 21
Lowell Russell (R)
District 22
Dan Howell (R)
District 23
Mark Cochran (R)
District 24
Kevin Raper (R)
District 25
Cameron Sexton (R)
District 26
Greg Martin (R)
District 27
Michele Reneau (R)
District 28
Yusuf Hakeem (D)
District 29
Greg Vital (R)
District 30
Esther Helton (R)
District 31
Ron Travis (R)
District 32
Monty Fritts (R)
District 33
District 34
Tim Rudd (R)
District 35
William Slater (R)
District 36
Dennis Powers (R)
District 37
Charlie Baum (R)
District 38
Kelly Keisling (R)
District 39
Iris Rudder (R)
District 40
Michael Hale (R)
District 41
Ed Butler (R)
District 42
Ryan Williams (R)
District 43
Paul Sherrell (R)
District 44
William Lamberth (R)
District 45
Johnny Garrett (R)
District 46
Clark Boyd (R)
District 47
Rush Bricken (R)
District 48
Bryan Terry (R)
District 49
Mike Sparks (R)
District 50
Bo Mitchell (D)
District 51
Aftyn Behn (D)
District 52
Justin Jones (D)
District 53
Jason Powell (D)
District 54
Vincent Dixie (D)
District 55
John Clemmons (D)
District 56
Bob Freeman (D)
District 57
Susan Lynn (R)
District 58
Harold Love (D)
District 59
Caleb Hemmer (D)
District 60
District 61
Gino Bulso (R)
District 62
Pat Marsh (R)
District 63
Jake McCalmon (R)
District 64
Scott Cepicky (R)
District 65
Lee Reeves (R)
District 66
Sabi Kumar (R)
District 67
Ronnie Glynn (D)
District 68
Aron Maberry (R)
District 69
Jody Barrett (R)
District 70
Clay Doggett (R)
District 71
Kip Capley (R)
District 72
Kirk Haston (R)
District 73
Chris Todd (R)
District 74
Jay Reedy (R)
District 75
Jeff Burkhart (R)
District 76
Tandy Darby (R)
District 77
Rusty Grills (R)
District 78
Mary Littleton (R)
District 79
Brock Martin (R)
District 80
Johnny Shaw (D)
District 81
Debra Moody (R)
District 82
Chris Hurt (R)
District 83
Mark White (R)
District 84
Joe Towns (D)
District 85
Jesse Chism (D)
District 86
Justin Pearson (D)
District 87
Karen Camper (D)
District 88
Larry Miller (D)
District 89
Justin Lafferty (R)
District 90
Gloria Johnson (D)
District 91
Torrey Harris (D)
District 92
Todd Warner (R)
District 93
G.A. Hardaway (D)
District 94
Ron Gant (R)
District 95
Kevin Vaughan (R)
District 96
Gabby Salinas (D)
District 97
John Gillespie (R)
District 98
District 99
Tom Leatherwood (R)
Republican Party (75)
Democratic Party (24)
