Metro Nashville Councilwoman Courtney Johnston has yet to offer her positions on top issues to voters nearly one month since declaring her primary challenge to U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.
Johnston declared her candidacy on April 4, but the website for her campaign remains devoid of issues statements and policy positions at press time. Without policy positions, the only campaign information available on Johnston’s campaign website is a donation link, her announcement video, and a form to submit contact details.
The Tennessee Star contacted Johnston’s campaign to determine whether the candidate has made public statements regarding her positions on a number of Republican priorities that are available to the public online but did not receive a response before press time.
The Nashville politician previously described herself as a conservative when announcing her campaign despite once admitting to discovering areas of agreement with “further left-leaning” colleagues on the Nashville Metro Council.
“A lot of my colleagues are further left-leaning, but we agree more often than not because good policy is good policy,” Johnston (pictured above) told Nashville Scene on February 9, 2023.
She explained to the outlet, “I’m not out here fighting abortion or LGBT anything, like some conservative-leaning groups want me to and have pressured me to do. That’s not what I’m here to do. But we can all agree on fiscal responsibility.”
The 2023 article explained Johnston led Nashville’s “push for automated license plate readers, controversial surveillance technology that was criticized by her colleagues as overly invasive and too broad in its data collection.”
The year prior, Johnston wrote an open letter calling for Governor Bill Lee to convene a special session to pass new gun laws.
Despite insisting her request did not involve “gun control,” Johnston wrote in her open letter, “It shouldn’t require more education and licensure to drive a vehicle that was designed for transportation than to get a gun that was designed for the sole purpose of killing.”
She urged Lee, “I’m asking you as a fellow Tennessean, as a representative of my district in Davidson County, and as a human being to call a special legislative session to focus on the areas of gun rights and responsibilities, mental health, and school security.”
Johnston and her campaign are also connected to The Best of Tennessee, the “moderate” political operation recently organized by seasoned political fundraiser Kim Kaegi and Knoxville-based Democratic lawyer and abortion advocate Chloe Akers, as Kaegi is publicly listed as Johnston’s campaign treasurer.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Pennsylvania Daily Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Courtney Johnston” by Courtney Johnston.
