Vinnie Vineyard

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Vinnie Vineyard

Independent

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 6, 2018

Education

High school

Gibbs High School

Other

Helen Ross McNabb LADAC

Personal

Profession

Small business owner

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Personal Facebook

Vinnie Vineyard (independent) ran for election for Governor of Tennessee. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Vineyard completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Vinnie Vineyard graduated from Gibbs High School in 1993 and from Helen Ross McNabb LADAC in 2002. His professional experience includes working as a small business owner, professional wrestler, professional musician, television ghost hunter, drug and alcohol counselor, and middle management for fortune 500 companies.

Elections

2018

See also: Tennessee gubernatorial election, 2018

General election

The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Tennessee on November 6, 2018.

General election

General election for Governor of Tennessee

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Lee (R)	59.6	1,336,106
		Karl Dean (D)	38.6	864,863
	Submit photo	Sherry Clark (Independent)	0.2	5,198
	Submit photo	Mark Wright (Independent)	0.2	4,687
	Submit photo	Patrick Whitlock (Independent)	0.2	3,631
	Submit photo	Yvonne Neubert (Independent)	0.1	3,070
		Heather Scott (Independent)	0.1	2,969
	Submit photo	Mark Brown (Independent)	0.1	2,841
	Submit photo	Joe Wilmoth (Independent)	0.1	2,444
	Submit photo	George Blackwell Smith IV (Independent)	0.1	1,550
	Submit photo	Cory King (Independent)	0.1	1,502
	Submit photo	Tracy Yaste Tisdale (Independent)	0.1	1,396
	Submit photo	Justin Cornett (Independent)	0.1	1,217
		Chad Riden (Independent)	0.0	1,096
	Submit photo	Robert Sawyers Sr. (Independent)	0.0	1,059
		Vinnie Vineyard (Independent)	0.0	1,012
		Rick Tyler (Independent)	0.0	981
		Gabriel Fancher (Independent)	0.0	869
	Submit photo	Sean Fleming (Independent)	0.0	814
	Submit photo	Alfred Rapoza (Independent)	0.0	800
	Submit photo	Jessie McDonald (Independent)	0.0	755
	Submit photo	Toney Mitchell (Independent)	0.0	739
	Submit photo	Mike Toews (Independent)	0.0	726
	Submit photo	Matthew Koch (Independent)	0.0	652
	Submit photo	Jeremy Allen Stephenson (Independent)	0.0	613
	Submit photo	Tommy McAnally (Independent)	0.0	609
	Submit photo	Jaron Weidner (Independent)	0.0	588
	Submit photo	William Helmstetter (Independent)	0.0	496
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	11

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,243,294
= 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

Karl Dean defeated Craig Fitzhugh and Mezianne Vale Payne in the Democratic primary for Governor of Tennessee on August 2, 2018.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Tennessee

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Karl Dean	75.1	279,324
		Craig Fitzhugh	19.4	72,263
		Mezianne Vale Payne	5.4	20,253

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 371,840
= 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

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Tennessee on August 2, 2018.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Tennessee

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Bill Lee	36.7	289,699
		Randy Boyd	24.3	191,940
		Diane Black	23.0	181,719
		Beth Harwell	15.3	120,910
		Kay White	0.4	3,181
	Submit photo	Basil Marceaux	0.2	1,270

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 788,719
= 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

2018

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Vinnie Vineyard completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vineyard's responses.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Ballot Access for minor parties, Healthcare, School Reform

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Currently I am very passionate about Healthcare reform b/c I have had a close friend die recently b/c she couldn't buy medicine. Also, I have several friends that could benefit from medical marijuana and cannabis.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I didn't think there was a political party for me until I found Ron Paul. His live and let live attitude and suspicious attitude towards anything the government gets involved inspires me to run for office and preach Libertarian ideas.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

incorruptible

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.

Ballotpedia biographical submission form

The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:

“	What is your political philosophy? If you are a friend of liberty, if you are a lover of peace, if you hate crony capitalism, if you are weary over the American political process, if you are sick of the big guys beating up the little guys, if you hate racism, hypocrisy, tyranny, and stupid laws, you have found a friend in the funk. My name is Vinnie Vineyard, and you may know me better as Funkmaster V from my exploits in the music (Flipside Runner/ Pimpin' Ain't Easy/ Big Fish), pro wrestling, ghost hunting (Wrestling with Ghosts on ASY TV/ Big N Funky's Ghost Show A-Go-Go), television (Snapped, Homicide Hunter, Still the King, etc), comedy skits (Big N Funky Productions), or my small business: Funkmaster V's Uptown Cabs of Renown. I am proudly running for Tennessee State Governor... for two reasons: 1) To give Libertarians, peace mongers, believers in small government, free trade, civil liberties and the politically disenfranchised a solid choice on the ballot this November. 2) To bring awareness to the ballot-access nightmare that exists in our great state of Tennessee. You see, if you want to run for political office in this state as a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, all you need is 25 signatures on your petition, and you are good to go. If you are a Libertarian, Green, Reform, Socialist, Right to Life, Constitutionalists Party member, etc... and you wanted to be recognized by your party, you need 33, 844 signatures. You read that right. 33,844 vs. 25. That's an insane amount of signatures to obtain. It took me 3 hours to get 38. This is unfair, but it is deliberate. It is set up by the Democrat/ Republican duopoly... and it needs to end. They want voters to remain confused, because they know they can't stand up to honest competition that will expose their flaws even more. I hope I can persuade you to vote for me this November. Click the links to the left to learn more about me, the ballot access nightmare in Tennessee, and the Libertarian party. You can donate, too... because freedom fighters can use all the help we can get, baby. Remember, I will be listed as Independent on the ballot... which is unfortunate... because I'm not an independent, I’m a Libertarian. Join me, and we will fight the power. And as always... believe in the Funk. Is there anything you would like to add? On August 2nd, Vineyard received 1329 write in votes (he did not appear on any August 2 ballot) which put him ahead of Basil Marceaux, who received 1279 votes and appeared on the Republican Primary ballot.	”
—Vinnie Vineyard

See also

• Governor of Tennessee
• Tennessee gubernatorial election, 2018

External links

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• Governor of Tennessee