ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. — When you look at the slate of candidates for governor this November, you will see a lot of familiar political resumes. But one candidate is hoping voters are looking for something completely different: a resume built not in a statehouse, but on a factory floor.
David Hatley, an independent candidate from Gray, is bringing an entrepreneur’s perspective to the race. Born in Elizabethton, Hatley started his first business at 17 without outside capital. Over the last three decades, he has built nine companies, earned multiple patents, and created 750 jobs in Tennessee.
His most notable success is the founding and operation of a 740,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in East Tennessee, which his campaign claims is the number one hot tub manufacturer in the United States. Now, he wants to take that experience to the governor’s office.
“The best leadership often doesn’t come from the political class,” Hatley stated in his campaign announcement. “It comes from the people who build businesses, create jobs, and understand what it takes to keep our state growing and strong… We deserve a governor who knows what it takes to meet a payroll, face a crisis, and come out the other side standing.”
A Focus on Building the Workforce
Hatley’s platform, dubbed “Elevate Tennessee,” heavily emphasizes economic expansion and workforce development, channeling a philosophy similar to Mike Rowe’s advocacy for the skilled trades.
He argues that the next generation of Tennessee’s economic growth won’t come from pushing everyone toward traditional universities, but rather from skilled workers, builders, and innovators. To that end, Hatley is advocating for a shift in how the state approaches career preparation, calling for investments in trade education, apprenticeships, and skills training.
His goal is to ensure students can connect to “real jobs before a diploma is required,” actively working to prevent young Tennesseans from being sent “into debt chasing a four-year degree.”
Expanding Domestic Manufacturing
Tying directly into his push for skilled labor is his priority to expand Tennessee’s manufacturing base. At a time when many American companies have offshored operations, Hatley points to his own decision to keep his massive hot tub manufacturing operation in East Tennessee.
He aims to create conditions that reward businesses that “build here, hire here, and keep jobs in Tennessee,” while strengthening domestic supply chains.
An Unconventional Approach to Schools
While heavily focused on trades, Hatley also addresses K-12 public education. His approach focuses on fundamental skills rather than broad administrative changes.
Pointing to the fact that many of the state’s fourth graders are not reading at grade level, he has proposed a targeted intervention: placing expert reading coaches in Tennessee’s 100 lowest-performing elementary schools, modeling the approach after successful reading improvement initiatives in Mississippi.
Hatley believes that bringing a businessman’s focus on measurable results and efficiency to the state’s budget—what he calls “Fiscal Responsibility Without Political Theater”—can help fully fund these educational investments, including raising teacher pay, without raising taxes.
As an independent, Hatley gathered the required petition signatures to bypass the party primaries and appear directly on the November 3 general election ballot.