Santiago Asconape

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Santiago Asconape

Independent

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Santiago Asconape (independent) ran for election for Governor of Tennessee. Asconape will not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 3, 2026.

Asconape completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2026

See also: Tennessee gubernatorial election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on August 6, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for Governor of Tennessee

The following candidates are running in the general election for Governor of Tennessee on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		Misam Abidi (Independent)
	Submit photo	Dean Brewer (Independent)
	Submit photo	Ray Brown (Independent)
	Submit photo	David Hatley (Independent)
	Submit photo	Wendell Jackson (Independent)
		Stephen Maxwell (Independent)
		Charles Morgan (Independent)
	Submit photo	Eddie Lee Murphy (Independent)
		Lauren Pinkston (Independent)
	Submit photo	Manasa Reddy (Independent)
	Submit photo	Victor Scoggin (Independent)
	Submit photo	Dave Seeman (Independent)
	Submit photo	Karl Smithson (Independent)
	Submit photo	L. Webb Taylor (Independent)
	Submit photo	Robert Vick (Independent)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Santiago Asconape (Independent)
• Taylor Hafley (Independent)

Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Governor of Tennessee

Carnita Atwater (D), Tim Cyr (D), Jerri Green (D), Adam Kurtz (D), and Kevin Lee McCants (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Tennessee on August 6, 2026.

		Candidate
		Carnita Atwater
		Tim Cyr
		Jerri Green
		Adam Kurtz
		Kevin Lee McCants

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Martin Kennedy (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for Governor of Tennessee

Marsha Blackburn (R), Monty Fritts (R), and John Rose (R) are running in the Republican primary for Governor of Tennessee on August 6, 2026.

		Candidate
		Marsha Blackburn
		Monty Fritts
		John Rose

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= 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.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Carlton Boleyjack (R)
• Rebecca Inman (R)
• Cito Pellegra (R)

Endorsements

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Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Santiago Asconape completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Asconape's responses.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was a complex litigation enthusiast and an interactive technology entrepreneur before decided to run for governor of the Volunteer state. I was always obsessed with comparing and contrasting the different 50 states. And when I met Tennessee, and after reviewing lots of data, I met my match in terms of I thought it was a state that I could comfortably govern over.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Modernization. We have to modernize the state of Tennessee.
• Defense. We have to defend and protect the state of Tennessee.
• We can obtain a GDP of between 7-9% in 4 years’ time in the state of Tennessee.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am fascinated by economies as a whole. What drives an economy. What an economy consists of. I intend to run for governor on the platform of modernization and defense as this is what the state of Tennessee needs in terms of how the state could reach its peak potential economically and otherwise.

What legacy would you like to leave?

Santiago Asconapé was the 51st Governor of the state of Tennessee and arguably its most important one because of his bold and calculated focus on Modernization and Defense of the state.

Governors have many responsibilities, which vary from state to state. Which of those do you personally consider the most important in your state?

Moving forward the economy. Facilitating the economy as a whole. I would be viewed as an economy-first Governor.

Different states require governors to have different degrees of responsibility for the state budgeting process. If it were your choice, what do you believe is the appropriate degree of gubernatorial involvement with this process in your state?

Aside from the initial conference prior to the State of the Union address, there are other follow-up opportunities where conferences can be scheduled between governor and legislature. I would value these opportunities periodically throughout the year to make the most of these strategic meetings and always make sure to have an agreeable but not intrusive relationship with the legislature. Meaning I would not unduly interfere with the affairs of the legislature, and the legislature need not unduly interfere with the affairs of the executive branch.

In most states, governors have the power to make line-item vetoes. If that is true in your state, what would be your philosophy for how and when to use this power?

I would seldomly veto because that implies wholesale rejection of a certain policy that is at the very least theoretically important to the legislature, but there are situations were perhaps the line-item veto is necessary and would be utilized. More practical procedural tools that would be used more frequently are addiditur and remitur—where dollar amounts can be added and subtracted from particular legislative proposals.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The ideal relationship is one where the governor listens to the legislature and keeps in mind there suggestions and recommendations, but at the same time the legislature does not encroach on gubernatorial power or does not overly slow down the state executive leadership from being itself and fulfilling its duties and obligations.

What do you love most about your state?

I love most the land of Tennessee. It’s natural resources and it’s natural beauty. I am a big proponent of land preservation, and I believe that the natural beauty of the state should always be protected and defended.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Propelling forward the state economy, and modernizing the state as a whole without running into fiscal affordability challenges. Balancing expansion and economic empowerment of the state with affordability measures. Otherwise, many defense issues keep me up at night. For instance, how many missle defense systems actively protect the Tennessee population at the current moment?

Under what circumstances should the governor of your state be able to use emergency powers?

The state of Tennessee offers its governors’ broad emergency powers, but they should only be invoked when things basically go wrong. In other words when some kind of disaster or unfortunate human event occurs. It is preferable for emergency powers not to be used, but if necessary, I would be fully prepared to implement Emergency powers if the circumstances necessitate such course of action.

A governor is the top executive authority in his or her state. What does that mean to you?

It means a lot of responsibility. I would be responsible for the well-being of 7 million people. It also means a lot of power that can be used for good. We should never forget that.

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

Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.

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Candidate

Governor of Tennessee

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