CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Former City Council member Deanna McLaughlin announced to Clarksville Now that she will be a candidate for the Republican nomination for state House District 75.
McLaughlin, who served three terms as a Clarksville city councilperson, has been an active member of the Montgomery County Republican Party since 2003, serving in various leadership roles. She is currently an Executive Committee member in the Montgomery County Republican Party.
She said she was originally encouraged to run by District 74 state Rep. Jay Reedy, who has now endorsed her campaign.
“He had contacted me over two years ago and said that he had thought that after the Census numbers came back that he thought he’d be drawn out of Montgomery County,” McLaughlin told Clarksville Now. “He told me to think about running for that. I talked it over with my family and friends and decided that I still had some service left in me.”
McLaughlin said that, if elected, she would like to work on legislation to increase penalties for speeding in residential areas to make them equivalent to speeding in school zones and increase access to state scholarships like Tennessee Hope and Promise for recently arrived military children.
She also wants to see state Highway 374 completed, connecting the Woodlawn and Palmyra areas.
“We definitely need another way to get from one side of the county to the other,” McLaughlin said. “There’ve been plans for years to push (374) across the river. … Tentatively, I’m hearing like 2026 is when we should be some definite close to end progress on that.”
McLaughlin will hold a campaign kickoff event at Cross Creek Clays in Palmyra on Saturday, Feb. 19, from 2-5 p.m.
District 75 was established this year through redistricting and covers roughly the western third of Montgomery County and the west side of Clarksville.