Independent · Tennessee Governor’s Race · 2026
DAVID HATLEY
Built Not
Bought.
No Party. No Donors. Just Tennessee.
Grew up in East Tennessee with nothing handed to him. Built nine companies, kept every job here when every competitor moved overseas, and shared equity with the workers who built it alongside him. Thirty years of proof. Now he’s running for Governor.
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Tested in Tennessee — David’s Book
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9
COMPANIES BUILT
750
Tennessee Jobs
740K
Sq Ft of TN Manufacturing
#1
Hot Tub Mfr. in America
11
Patents Held
30 yrs
BUILDING IN TENNESSEE
America's Bash 10th year anniversary hosted by:
The Hatley's--
Tested in Tennessee
The story Tennessee
hasn't heard yet.
His Story
No prerequisites.
No safety net.
David Hatley grew up in Elizabethton, Tennessee — Carter County — with no inheritance, no industry connections, and no one handing him a roadmap. Two parents who weren’t always present. Moving when the rent ran out. What he had was a ZIP code that taught him early that nobody was coming to save him — and a mind that refused to accept that as a ceiling.
"No prerequisites. No safety net. Just Tennessee tenacity — and thirty years of proof that it works."
WHY HE’S RUNNING
Politicians Promise. Hatley Delivers.
There is a difference between studying economic development and creating it. David has created it — for thirty years, in Tennessee, while others were still talking about it.
Built, Not Bought
No party. No donors. No one to answer to but Tennessee.
David is running as an independent because he has no interest in owing anything to anyone except the people of Tennessee. The track record speaks. It doesn’t need a party label.
The Hardest Working Person in the Room
Tennessee deserves a Governor who outworks the job.
He showed up first and left last for thirty years. He rebuilt from nothing after 2008. He will bring that same relentless work ethic to the Governor’s office every single day.
What He Cares About
Five Passions.
Proven in practice.
These are what David fights for — grounded in his life, his community, and thirty years of watching what holds Tennessee back.
01 — Affordable Housing
A house your kid can afford, in the town they grew up in.
Tennessee is short more than 100,000 homes. Prices have more than doubled in a decade. Wages have risen at less than 50%. David grew up moving when the rent ran out — he knows exactly what that does to a family. His plan puts working Tennesseans back into homeownership. No new taxes.
02 — Education
Only 32% of Tennessee 4th graders read at grade level. That ends.
David has hired Tennesseans who couldn’t fill out a job application. He sees the cost of this every day in his businesses. Mississippi went from 49th to 9th in reading by putting expert coaches in the lowest-performing schools and keeping them there. Tennessee will do the same — focused on the 100 lowest-performing elementary schools, with one office in charge and real accountability to deliver.
03 — Crime & Public Safety
Tennessee releases 12,000 people from prison every year. Half are back inside within three years.
That number is fixable. Texas cut its recidivism rate dramatically. Virginia runs the lowest in America. Both red states. David’s approach is the same one he uses in business: find out what’s actually working, bring in the people who built it, and hold everyone accountable for results — not just rhetoric. Safe communities are not a political issue. They are a foundation issue.
04 — Health Care
95,000 working Tennesseans have no coverage. Tennessee leads the country in rural hospital closures.
Every one of David’s 750 employees has health coverage — because he’s seen firsthand what happens to a workforce when it doesn’t. The coverage gap is not a partisan issue. It is a math problem. Tennesseans paid for this coverage with their federal taxes. David is going to Washington and bringing the money home — with work requirements, cost-sharing, and a rural hospital stabilization fund.
05 — Infrastructure
TDOT has a $58 billion backlog. Tennessee added 98,000 people last year. There is no plan.
David has built 740,000 square feet of manufacturing in upper East Tennessee. He knows what a real plan looks like — and he knows what it looks like when an organization is just drifting. In the first 90 days: a 25-year infrastructure plan written by engineers and builders, not bureaucrats. AI-optimized traffic signals. A public dashboard tracking every project over $10M. And an end to the decade-long orange barrel trap where we build the same road in pieces for fifteen years when it should take three.
Coming Soon
Join the Movement
Build Tennessee.
Ten coalitions. One movement.
This campaign is built on the people who actually make Tennessee work — manufacturers, teachers, farmers, veterans, first responders, healthcare workers, small business owners, and the next generation of builders. Be a part of making a change in what you are passionate about and help us Build Tennessee.
Women in Business
Women Build Tennessee
Women business owners, entrepreneurs, and founders across Tennessee — building companies, creating jobs, and leading the next chapter of this state’s economy.
Public Safety
First Responders Build Tennessee
Police, fire, EMS, dispatchers, and their families — standing behind the people who run toward danger.
Manufacturing & Trades
Builders Build Tennessee
Manufacturers, fabricators, engineers, and trade workers — the people who make things in Tennessee rallied behind a state that makes more.
Faith Builds Tennessee
Tennessee’s faith communities mobilized to serve first — the hands and feet of the movement.
Youth & Workforce
Youth Builds Tennessee
College students, TCAT graduates, young professionals, and apprentices — the next generation of Tennessee builders.
Agriculture
Farmers Build Tennessee
Farmers, FFA members, young agricultural producers — keeping family land in family hands.
Small Business
Makers Build Tennessee
Small business owners, shop operators, craftspeople, and entrepreneurs — the people who sign the front of the check and never stop building.
Veterans & Service
Veterans Build Tennessee
Veterans, military spouses, National Guard members, and veteran-owned businesses — at the front of the movement, in leadership and service.
Education
Teachers Build Tennessee
Teachers, administrators, and education staff — given a movement of their own, built on respect, not rhetoric.
Rural Health
Healthcare Builds Tennessee
Nurses, physicians, aides, and rural clinic staff — the healthcare workers holding rural Tennessee together.
Find your coalition. Join the movement.
Ten coalitions. One word. Built to last.
FREE DOWNLOAD
David's book.
His story, in his words.
Before the campaign, there was a book. Tested in Tennessee is David’s account of building nine companies from nothing in East Tennessee — the failures, the rebuilds, the 2008 collapse and the rebuild, the workers who made it all possible, and the conviction that brought him to this race. Download it free. No strings attached.
How You Help
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Paid for by Hatley for Governor · hatleyforgovernor.com
Self-Funded. Independent.
David is funding this himself. Here's how you can help.
Tennesseans shouldn’t have to pay someone to work hard for them — or to be their Governor. David is funding this campaign himself. No donors. No strings. No one to answer to but the people of Tennessee.
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Join the Movement
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