CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) — Clarksville Indivisible held its Ice Cream and Candidates event on Saturday, Aug. 31, at Civitan Park. The event featured short speeches from candidates for local and state offices and a chance for constituents to ask questions.
Clarksville City Council candidates were Joshua Wikholm for Ward Three, Keymonta Epps for Ward Nine, and Dave Bilan for Ward 12. The candidates’ platforms varied, but all mentioned the need for infrastructure improvements such as sidewalks.
Candidates for state office were Democrats Allie Phillips for TN House District 75, Garfield Scott for House District 68 and Karen Reynolds for TN Senate District 22.
Joy Rice, lead organizer for Clarksville Indivisible, said the organization is a grassroots, nonpartisan progressive organization with chapters across the U.S.
Clarksville Indivisible focuses on local politics, with Rice saying “We know from experience that national politics sucks up all the oxygen. But the local stuff, new local candidates that you’ll see today, will affect your lives far greater than anything they can do in D.C.”
As the event was concluding, Reynolds mentioned five Montgomery County Democratic candidates who campaign for similar values. The unofficial grouping includes the aforementioned state candidates as well as incumbent representative Ronnie Glynn, a Democrat for TN House District 67, and Democrat Megan Barry for U.S. House District 7.
Reynolds said “I think in Clarksville and Tennessee we need the supermajority to pay attention. We decided as a progressive group that we need healthcare, education and to improve our infrastructure, and the only way that we’re going to do that is if we run together and break that supermajority.”