Thomas Adams III
Thomas Adams III (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Kentucky House of Representatives to represent District 73. He lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Adams completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Thomas Adams III was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. He earned a bachelor's degree from Pepperdine University in 2005 and a graduate degree from San Diego State University in 2007. His career experience includes working as an educator, a visiting assistant professor, and an active member of Wolfe County Search and Rescue.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 73
Incumbent Ryan Dotson defeated Thomas Adams III in the general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 73 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Ryan Dotson (R) | 56.6 | 8,704 |
 | Thomas Adams III (D)  | 43.4 | 6,678 | |
| Total votes: 15,382 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 73
Thomas Adams III defeated Rory Houlihan in the Democratic primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 73 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Thomas Adams III | 53.2 | 1,416 |
 | Rory Houlihan | 46.8 | 1,244 | |
| Total votes: 2,660 | |||
| = 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
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Ryan Dotson advanced from the Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 73.
Campaign themes
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released February 8, 2022 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Thomas Adams III completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Adams' 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 running to serve Kentucky and District 73 as State Representative. I already serve it every single day as a citizen. I'm active in my community. I'm a longtime educator and lifelong student. I serve as a member of Wolfe County Search and Rescue. I actively support local organizations and the members of my community, regardless of political party affiliation. I run every single day.
I'm running because I care, not just for some Kentuckians, but for every Kentuckian.
- I'm a longtime teacher and a lifelong learner, and I can't help but see everything through that lens. Electing me means electing a thoughtful, compassionate person to the state legislature.
- I'm inherently curious. I'm the type of person who will dig into an issue and its underlying parts in order to understand it and seek improvements. I have a set of skills that I want to use for the betterment of all of my fellow Kentuckians. I'm precisely the person you want in office because I actually want to do the work. I want Kentucky to be better for all of us. I want this job. I want to serve. I think it should be enough to support me for these reasons, but I'll offer you one more. The current incumbent, Ryan Dotson, is not serving Kentuckians who share my values. In fact, he's actively working against us. He has supported and authored legislation that actively disenfranchises and actively harms Kentuckians. Let's stop him.
- The pandemic laid bare many of the flaws of our social safety system. It also revealed a little of what we might accomplish if we look beyond what is possible or achievable during normal times. I intend to bring along my imagination and my willingness to think beyond the typical to the State House in Frankfort. The overwhelmed status quo of an unemployment system, the underfunded options for the homeless, food insecurity in our communities? They won't stand a chance with me and others like me in office. Support my campaign today.
-- for racial and reproductive justice.
-- for disability rights.
-- to end homelessness and to make housing more affordable.
-- because we can no longer afford to elect people who don't factor climate change into their policy decisions.
-- to expand voting rights.
-- to help Kentucky farmers grow more hemp and to push for its widespread approval as animal feed.
-- to form and foster relationships among and across the many cultures of the commonwealth.
-- to seek justice through the lens of my multi-ethnic and globally-minded heritage.
-- for a greater focus on health and wellness and active living.
-- to inspire and enable more Kentuckians to safely experience the outdoors and the natural, rugged, wild beauty of our state.
-- to improve our transportation infrastructure and to improve the walkability of our neighborhoods.
-- to battle food insecurity.
-- to improve childcare and early education for Kentucky families.
-- to reimagine the way we police our communities.
-- because women’s rights are human rights.
-- because I value science.
-- to support greater access to health and social services and to allocate more funds for mental health care.
-- because black lives matter, and because it shouldn’t be controversial to say so.
-- for Kentuckians from the #hoodtotheholler.
-- because I care about my fellow Kentuckians.
Lasty, I'm running to beat Ryan Dotson.
I look up to John May, Chief of Wolfe County Search and Rescue. He is the most incredible leader, and I'm lucky to know him.
I look up to my students -- who will never cease to amaze me.
I look up to every teacher who lives the life of care.
I look up to my mom and dad for not giving up. I look up to them each for different reasons.
I look up to Ryan Donohue for being far mor impactful than he'll ever realize.
I look up to Kristen Routh, Adam Johanson, Brady Miller, Diya Wahi, and David Chang -- always David Chang.
I look up to Joseph Lopez.
I look up to Ron Smith.
I look up to Troy Cooper.
I look up to my cousin Scott Wink.
I look up to Elizabeth Warren.
And of course I look up to my partner, Christina.
The Good Place
It's a Wonderful Life
The Democratic Paradox
Bowling Alone
Talking to Strangers (both the one by Danielle Allen and the one by Malcolm Gladwell)
Groundwork of the metaphysics of morals
Justice as Fairness
The Craftsman
The Trial
Regulating Aversion
And some recent reads too:
Atlas of the Heart
Meme Life
The Comfort Crisis
Endure
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play
Range
A commitment to all people, not just some people
A commitment to protecting those of us who need more protection
Openness to a variety of perspectives
That is the beginning and the end of it.
I don't think a candidate needs much more than that, but as it turns out I have a long list of other skills that I think will help me in office.
I'm a longtime student and practitioner of rhetoric and communication.
I've been teaching communication courses for 17 years.
I've studied democracy, and I'm profoundly interested in everything related to deliberating across differences.
I'm an extrovert.
I'm willing to admit fault. I'm a firm believer in fallibility.
I desire meaningful connections with others, and I'll work to achieve those.
If I am uncomfortable or see someone else is uncomfortable I won't stand idly by -- I won't sit in silence in the presence of injustice.
I am not shy
I have energy for days
I'm enthusiastic and passionate
I won't give up -- ever
I'm an endurance athlete
I'm socially oriented
I'm also a good bowler
I know what it's like to commit to a thing, and to o it every day without exception.
To craft policy that enables Kentuckians to live happy and healthy lives free from discrimination and unfair treatment.
To act in the interest others.
I return again to --
I am my brother's keeper. I am my sister's keeper.
These are my responsibilities.
To commit to working with anyone willing to try -- and even to work to get others to the point of being willing to try.
I want to leave a legacy of health and happiness that reaches into the lives of every one of my fellow Kentuckians.
I want to leave a legacy of care -- one where government has come to be seen as a place where people come together and where nobody gets left behind.
I want to leave a legacy of policy and governance that results in my community members acting in the best interest of their neighbors -- regardless of race, regardless of political affiliation --
I think I would want to say the Challenger explosion, but that happened a little too early in my life for those memories to have happened in real time.
I sold candy and ice cream to the kids in my neighborhood
I had my own house-sitting operation
I set up and repaired computers
and
Superman or Rob Lowe's Chris Traeger immediately come to mind
Not giving up hope.
That's the first one that came to mind.
Aside from that I struggle with cleaning up the stove and with letting things go.
Long ago I made the commitment to myself that I will never lose my sense of wonder. It's not always easy to keep that promise.
I struggle with wanting people to like me. I struggle with the shame of not doing more for those I might have been able to help sooner.
I struggle with the worry of disappointing the people who have helped me and praised me throughout my life.
--
where both entities work to empower the other and together work to empower the people of Kentucky
--
I think that depends on how we handle the next few years.
But perhaps my desired office/position wouldn't exist
that is the very foundation of democracy
Education, Health and Family Services, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation, Transportation, Economic and Workforce, Affordable Housing Caucus, Central Kentucky caucus
The current legislature does not work for his constituents, and this is evident from his committee choices.
As far as Kentucky goes--
Charles Booker inspired me to run.
I believe I will serve the public good for the rest of my life, and I also believe in establishing term limits.
They are stories of teachers not only struggling to teach their students valuable lessons but also struggling to make ends meet while they are simultaneously under constant attack.
They are stories of small business struggling to get up and running in the midst of a pandemic or even of my local brewery just trying to brew and distribute beer amidst a confusing mess of local and state regulations.
I should probably share that I used to do research in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley
Here's a section I copied from the transcript.
"That reminds me of a story -- when you're my age, everything reminds you of a story. [Laughter] You know, in those previous times, there was a Tarheel who was running for office as a Republican. And he was out in the rural area, and he saw a farm there and decided to step in and do a little campaigning. And he announced who he was to the farmer, who said, "Well, wait right here till I get Ma. She's never seen a Republican before." [Laughter] But while he was gone getting Ma, the candidate looked around for something. He thought he'd give them a little speech and looked for something in the nature of a platform. And all he could find was a pile of that stuff Bess Truman took 35 years getting Harry to call fertilizer. [Laughter] And there he was, ready to speak, and when they came back, he gave them a little Republican pitch. When he was finished, the farmer said, "That's the first Republican speech I ever heard." And the candidate said, "That's the first time I ever made a speech from a Democratic platform."
Here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMyjgFj9gwM
If it's a recent favorite, it will likely be a meme.
I have studied executive power, and I have an appreciation for many of its nuances.
Moments of of crisis and exception require agility and contingency and the adaptation of policy for efficient and just leadership.
But these exceptional cases often create the opening for more exceptional cases in the future.
We need a better working relationship between the Governor and the Legislature in order to improve checks and balances, but we also must acknowledge that in some cases the executive can and should act, at least in the short term, to muster the resources of the state to serve the people of Kentucky.
Compromise is a necessary condition of politics and democracy. Compromise requires a negotiated loss on behalf of all parties. It's not going to be comfortable, but it is necessary.
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.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Kentucky House of Representatives District 73 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on March 21, 2022
