Tennessee House of Representatives District 81 candidate surveys, 2022

Elections in Tennessee, 2022

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This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 81 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

• Click here to see candidates and election results.
• Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 81

Incumbent Debra Moody defeated Nick Sawall in the general election for Tennessee House of Representatives District 81 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Debra Moody (R)	79.6	11,930
		Nick Sawall (Independent)	20.4	3,052

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 14,982
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

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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.

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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?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

Anti Government Mandates

Legalization of Marijuana

Impose Term limits at the state and federal level

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

The governments response to the Covid-19 pandemic was the breaking point for me and has pushed me to run for office. There has been so much back and forth on different preventative measures, when coupled with arbitrary mandates, have caused much of the general public to lose faith in their officials. I am 100% anti-mandate.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

I am a natural leader. I am the oldest of four boys. Growing up I would volunteer in my church, leading the age group below me. Once I was in the military, I was quickly promoted and placed in a squad leader position, where I oversaw the communications repair shop for my unit. Post military, i have taken on various leadership roles in multiple organizations.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

The core responsibility of an elected official is to represent their district while upholding and defending the constitution. On December 31st, 2008, I swore an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United states from all enemies, and I intend to follow that oath for the rest of my life.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

9/11 had a huge impact on my formative years. I was on the bus on the way to 8th grade when the first plane hit the tower. At first there was a lot of confusion, because how it was described, it was a small airplane that accidentally hit the tower. I'll never forget a few minutes later when they announced a second plane hit the towers. I distinctly remember looking at my friend Travis who was sitting next to me and saying "There is no way that was an accident, we've just been attacked." Once we arrived at school, we sat in home room and watched the towers fall live on tv. I remember being terrified because I had 2 half-sisters living in NYC at the time. Once they realized the gravity of the situation most of the school was released out to the courtyard to stay away from the TV. Being in Jacksonville Florida at the time, we saw Air Force One fly over heading back to DC.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

My first and oddly enough current job was with the YMCA. I worked in the "KidZone" where we watched the kids while their parents worked out. I worked there all summer when I was 15, quitting when school started up. I then worked at a skating rink on the weekends.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

I'd be Batman, because who wouldn't want to be batman.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

The chicken wing song. Anyone who is a parent knows what I am talking about, and if you don't, I'll spare you the agony.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Nick Sawall (Independent)

Absolutely. It would be impossible for a single legislator to push any kind of change through. Politics is essentially relationship building, with an end goal of representing the needs of your specific district at the state level.

If you are not a current legislator, are there certain committees that you would want to be a part of?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

I would love to be on the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, as well as the Criminal Justice committee. District 81 is a very agricultural based district, so I feel I would best be able to represent our district by being on the Agricultural Committee. I have multiple ideas for the Criminal Justice Committee as well, so it would be nice to have my voice heard there as well.

Tell us your favorite joke.

Nick Sawall (Independent)

I like telling Dad jokes. Sometimes he laughs!

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Nick Sawall (Independent)

Policy can be compromised, but ones values can not. One thing I've noticed in Washington is compromise doesn't mean less, but more. There is a lot of "I'll approve your spending if you approve mine." going on, as we can clearly see with our $29+ trillion debt our country is in. Our nation has a spending problem that we need to get reeled in immediately, because all we are doing currently is burdening our children's children with debt.

See also

More about these elections:

• Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2022

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