Former Kingsport Mayor Clark running for congressional seat
Published 4:18 pm Thursday, July 9, 2020
- Star Photo/Brittnee Nave John Clark is a family man, businessman, former Kingsport Mayor, and is now running for Congress.
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John Clark is aiming to combat the war on socialism as he runs for Congress.
The Cuban-born candidate emigrated with his family to the United States at the age of two. He grew up on a dairy farm and describes himself as a man of faith.
Clark has been married for 37 years and has two daughters. In addition to being a family man, he is also a businessman, Kingsport Mayor and also has public service experience.
“I’m not a career politician,” he explained. “I’m a businessman with public service experience.”
Clark explained his strengths in recruiting jobs as well as improving the quality of life in areas, as shown in Kingsport. He hopes to spread this to other counties in this role.
He went on to describe what made him want to run for the congressional seat held by Dr. Phil Roe, who decided not to seek another term.
He said that after seven years of public service, he thought about going back to the private sector, but ultimately realized he was still passionate about public service.
Additionally, he wanted to have his wife and daughters on board with his decision to run. The decision was lastly solidified by meetings with Congressman Roe that made Clark’s gut feel he would be retiring, which was later proven correct.
“I still have a strong passion to make a positive impact on the lives of people in the first district, and I feel very strongly and confidently that I can do that by improving their quality of life and ensuring a prosperous future,” he said.
Clark said he sees the Congressional seat as having two aspects, one local and one at Washington D.C.
He said on the local side he sees the ability to work with multiple counties and cities to help them succeed.
He broke the local aspects down into multiple parts – the first aspect of this is job creation and helping businesses succeed; the second major aspect is better access to healthcare for rural areas; the third involves addressing the drug epidemic in the region, and the last aspect is on tackling mental health.
On the Washington D.C. side involves protecting and preserving our freedoms.
Clark elaborated on his goal to protect freedoms in Congress.
He explained that the leftist side is aiming for socialism, and explained why he sees this as being so wrong. Clark was born in communist Cuba, and his parents ultimately had to leave everything behind to give him a better future.
“When you see a government that becomes so large and controlling that they take over bank accounts, land, homes, businesses and last but not least our freedoms, you know what it feels like when you have to leave your country to go somewhere else to get those back,” he said. “In that process, the key learning is freedom is not free.”
He said he aims to fight for these freedoms and help get the economy back on track without socialism, including balancing a budget, which he feels confident in doing based on his past job titles.
For potential voters, Clark said for those who want a congressman to help implement these local goals as well as fight for freedoms against socialism, he is the candidate for them.
Clark is a Conservative Republican who is also pro-life and supports the Second Amendment.
“I would be humbled and honored to have their vote.”
For more information on Clark, you can go to www.johnclarkforcongress.com. You can also check out his Facebook page for updates and additional information as well.
