Dear Fellow Tennesseans of the 6th District,
I am not running for Congress because I believe I am better than anyone else. I am running because I believe our government has forgotten something fundamental:
The people are supposed to come first.
Elected officials are servants of the people—not rulers over them.
My desire to serve comes from something I learned long before I ever considered running for Congress.
When I was involved in the Cookeville Cavalier football program, Coach Joslin would remind us of something that has stayed with me: “Leave the program better than we found it.”
Those words have followed me through life.
I believe that principle applies far beyond a football program. It applies to our communities. It applies to our government. And it applies to public service.
If I have the opportunity to serve the people of Tennessee’s 6th District, I want to leave this district better than I found it.
I want to help make life better for the people who live here—not simply by passing another law or creating another government program, but by defending the liberty that allows people to build better lives for themselves and their families.
That is why I chose to run as an independent.
I refuse to believe that defending your liberty should depend on the letter beside your name. Republican. Democrat. Independent. It shouldn’t matter.
Liberty does not ask what political party you belong to before protecting you.
Liberty is blind to party affiliation.
And I believe our government should be as well.
We are not always going to agree. That’s alright. America was never built on everyone thinking alike. We are going to have different beliefs, different experiences, and different ideas about how our country should move forward.
But surely we can agree on this:
You should be able to live your life without constantly looking over your shoulder and wondering whether your own government is going to interfere.
You should be able to speak your mind.
You should be able to worship—or not worship—according to your conscience.
You should be able to work, raise your family, pursue your dreams, and live your life without unnecessary government intrusion.
Your rights should not disappear because you disagree with the people in power.
That is why the Constitution matters.
The Constitution was written to place limits on government power and protect the liberties of the people. Those limits are not outdated obstacles. They are safeguards.
And when government exceeds those limits, someone needs to be willing to stand up and say, “No.”
I want to be that person.
I am not tied to a political party, and that matters.
It means I don’t have to defend a party simply because it is my party. I don’t have to vote a certain way because someone in Washington tells me how I should vote.
It means I can look at an issue and ask one simple question:
Does this protect the rights and liberty of the people, or does it give government more power over their lives?
I won’t agree with everyone in the 6th District.
And I don’t expect to.
But I will listen to you.
I will respect you.
And if you place your trust in me, I will remember who I work for.
You.
Not a political party.
Not Washington insiders.
Not a political machine.
The people of Tennessee’s 6th District.
I am asking for your support because I believe public service should actually be about service.
I believe the people deserve someone who will listen to them, stand up for their rights, and have the freedom to put principle and the Constitution ahead of political party.
And just as Coach Joslin taught us, I believe we have a responsibility to leave things better than we found them.
That is what I hope to do for this district.
I hope to leave it stronger.
I hope to leave it freer.
I hope to leave it with a government that remembers its proper place and remembers that its power comes from the people.
If elected, I will carry that responsibility with me every day:
To defend the Constitution.
To protect individual liberty.
To listen to the people.
To serve this district.
And to remember that the office does not belong to me.
It belongs to you.
I cannot promise that we will always agree.
I cannot promise that every problem will have an easy solution.
But I can promise that my goal will always be to serve the people of this district to the best of my ability and to leave this district better than I found it.
Liberty belongs to all of us.
And I am willing to stand for it.
Sincerely,
Christopher B. Monday
Independent Candidate for U.S. Congress
Tennessee’s 6th District
