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Meet Gloria

Gloria Johnson, State Representative in House District 13, is a retired Knox County school teacher with 27 years experience educating special needs children.

In this upcoming 2022 election cycle, however, Gloria is running in House District 90 (HD90) as a result of redistricting.

Whether she is encouraging students or advocating for her neighbors, she is always standing tall for our values.

She wants to ensure that:

Every child has access to a high-quality, well resourced public school.
Every family can go to the doctor when they are sick without going broke.
Every person who works for a living is being prioritized, as she stands up to corrupt corporate special interests.

GLORIA'S TIME AS A TEACHER

Gloria knows Knox County Schools because she not only taught there, she graduated from Knox County schools – specifically at Farragut High School.

Upon graduation, she went on to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville where she obtained her education degree. She taught at Mooreland Heights Elementary School, South Doyle High School (where she helped the school earn the “School of Promise” designation), and Central High School.

But Gloria discovered that, in addition to her love of connecting and organizing people and programs in education, she also had a passion for politics.

GLORIA’S JOURNEY TO SERVING HER CONSTITUENTS

In 2008, Gloria was bestowed a unique opportunity to train alongside the Barack Obama campaign’s best field organizers. This gave her the skills to begin organizing hundreds of volunteers to work in Knox County and surrounding states.

Her experience organizing for the Obama campaign injected energy into Knox County Democrats and helped build the party district by district. In 2009, she was elected Knox County Democratic Party Chairwoman and was subsequently re-elected for the position in 2011.

In 2012, she successfully ran for State House to give a needed voice for students, teachers, and working families in Tennessee. She served in the 108th General Assembly as a strong advocate for public education, affordable health care, our Tennessee mountains, and high-quality jobs with good wages.

In 2015, Gloria went back to organizing across the state for the passage of Insure Tennessee, Governor Haslam’s version of Medicaid expansion. She built healthcare and education organizing coalitions in Tennessee and was overwhelmingly voted back in the legislature in 2018 to once again serve her constituents.

Her advocacy work with health care and a lifetime supporting public education keeps her energized and inspired to run for HD90. Gloria is dedicated to making sure children, working families, seniors, teachers and all Tennesseans have a voice at the legislature.

GLORIA GROWING UP

Though her family has been in East Tennessee for generations, Gloria was born in Colorado. Her family moved to California and then to Mississippi for her father’s work as a FBI Special Agent. By the seventh grade, Gloria’s family was transferred back to Knoxville, as was their hope.

Not for sale

Gloria doesn't have billionaires and special interest groups to support her because she is NOT for sale. Help Gloria make sure everyone in Knoxville sees her ad by donating $5, $25, $100 or more. Thank you for standing up for Gloria so she can go to Nashville and Stand Tall for us all.

DONATE NOW

Checks can be mailed to:

Friends of Gloria Johnson

311 Morgan St.

Knoxville, TN 37917

THE ISSUES

The Issues

Click on the issues topics to learn more about how Gloria will stand on the issues that matter most to Tennesseans.

Education

Gloria believes education is an investment in our future.

She believes public tax dollars should remain in our public schools rather than draining those dollars to fund privatization efforts with charter schools and vouchers. She knows that in order for every child to receive an equitable education, Tennessee public schools must be adequately funded and provide wrap-around services.

Gloria understands that if we truly want educational success, Tennessee must prioritize quality early childhood education.

She wants teachers to get the pay raises they deserve, and she believes working with teachers collaboratively - not against them - will improve the performance of students, schools, and teachers alike.

Here is some of the education legislation Gloria sponsored and cosponsored:

HB2790- The Truth in Teacher Pay Act; requires the salary schedules approved by the state board of education to reflect promised increase in teacher’s paychecks.

HB2025- As introduced, requires, beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, that the BEP fund one full-time teaching position for every 20 average daily membership in grades kindergarten-12.

HB2026- Requires, beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, the BEP formula to fund at least one full-time school nurse position and one full-time school counselor position for each school in an LEA; increases, beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, the number of regular education teaching positions funded through the BEP.

HB0363- As introduced, requires employers to provide employees four hours of leave, paid or unpaid, each year for parental involvement in schools, subject to certain conditions.

Jobs

Gloria believes that hard working Tennesseans deserve good jobs with good wages in order to support their families.

Gloria knows half of Tennessee families fear they will not be able to retire in dignity in their current situation. She also knows that nearly a third of Tennessee families believe they are just one illness or car problem away from bankruptcy.

Gloria wants to make sure we have a healthier workforce by providing paid family leave for all workers.

Here is some of the legislation Gloria sponsored or cosponsored to help put Tennesseans back to work with good wages:

HB2024- As introduced, provides paid family and medical leave for state employees and teachers.

HB1872- As introduced, enacts the "Tennessee Family Insurance Act." This bill allows all workers 12 weeks of paid family leave for a new baby, sick child, ailing parent, or their own serious illness. This bill does not cost the state or businesses anything, it is paid by the employee contributing $3-$4 a week in order to have the leave when needed.

HB1694- As introduced, raises minimum wage for certain employers who do not offer health benefits to employees and employees' dependents, subject to exceptions for certain types of employment

HB1850- Enacts “Keep Jobs in Tennessee Act” which requires contractors working on public construction projects to hire at least 80% Tennessee residents in their workforce.

Healthcare

Gloria supports Medicaid expansion in Tennessee, as these dollars will:

Ensure Tennesseans have healthier livelihoods
Create thousands of jobs for hardworking Tennesseans
Support Tennesseans who suffer from opiate issues and help them get treatment
Keep our rural hospitals open
Strengthen Tennessee’s economy by getting unhealthy folks back to work

Medicaid expansion wouldn’t cost our state a single penny.

Without it, Tennessee stands to lose over 30 rural hospitals and thousands of jobs, not to mention the health and well being of thousands of Tennesseans. Gloria believes no one in Tennessee should lose their home because they get sick.

Here is some of the legislation Gloria sponsored or cosponsored to make sure every Tennessean has access to affordable healthcare.

HB1050- As introduced, authorizes the governor to expand Medicaid pursuant to the Affordable Care Act; authorizes the governor to negotiate with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to determine the terms of the expansion.

HB2709- As introduced, removes the preexisting condition exclusion from the mandated insurance coverage requirement for pregnancy, making sure no woman will be refused insurance due to pregnancy.