Renee Hoyos will be running to go where only one woman has been before; representing Tennessee’s 2nd District in congress. The race between herself and her Republican counterpart Tim Burchett has been tight.
As a class, we wanted to reach out to as many candidates as possible to hear their points of view, and on Monday, October 22nd, Hoyos took the time out of her busy campaign schedule to visit Mrs. Turner’s Journalism class.
Kicking off her class visit, Hoyos began by laying out how she made the decision to run as well as the main principles of her campaign, these included, but are not limited to; attending to the issue of climate change, working with public school budgets, and fighting for a living wage. To learn more about the specifics of other issues, check out the Bobcat Times* (hyperlink other article)
During her time in class, Hoyos answered a wide variety of questions, ranging from issues such as gun control to sexual education in public schools. A standout moment emerged when she was asked what she felt was the role of young people in the upcoming election, she responded, “I believe that young people are very important, however, I do recognize that they may not be interested in politics because for all of their lives they have seen nothing but political scandal, so they’re left with a bad taste in their mouth… I want to show young people that you can have integrity and be in politics.”
Furthermore, Hoyos stressed the importance of women in politics now. In all of her political literature, a yellow rose can be found in the second “O” of her last name to signify Women’s Suffrage. Hoyos feels excited that she could potentially open the doors for other women candidates in politics, and stated, “People are really looking to women… women of any party have a lot to offer the system.”
Aside from discussing her views with Central’s students, Hoyos also provided me with the opportunity to interview her one on one; during this time we discussed everything from her goals to her stance on key issues.
Some may wonder, why Hoyos? To that she says, “Because I have worked really hard to understand the issues and how they affect the people of the Second District… I’m transparent, that’s what you want in a politician, I’ve been to every forum I have been asked to, I submitted my tax returns… I will talk to republicans, I am really concerned about the people of the Second District, I don’t care much about parties.”
When it comes to the issues of money, it is important to note that Hoyos has not been taking any PAC money; instead she opted to receive donations from locals. She also made the decision to release her tax returns, when asked why, she simply said, “Because I was asked… I have nothing to hide, and I have also said that I will release them every year that I’m in office so that I can be transparent about what I am doing.”
Additionally, regarding the diversity of candidates running in this year’s midterm, Hoyos said, “If you look at what’s going on in Congress and then look at what’s going on in the rest of the world, they’re just not reflective of what is really going on, so we’ll see on election night.”
To conclude her visit, she drove home how necessary it is for people to get out and vote, citing local races where candidates have actually tied. She believes in campaigns, such as this one, every single vote counts.
Renee Hoyos was extremely willing to discuss anything our class or myself wanted to know, making herself open to any questions asked. Our class would like to thank Renee and her team for taking time out of their busy schedule to come speak with us.
If you are curious about Hoyos or any other candidates, be sure to check out other candidate profiles on The Bobcat Times.
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