Joshua Sales

Joshua Sales served in the U.S. Army from 2010 to 2011. Sales graduated from Live Oak High School. Sales earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2019. Sales' career experience includes working as an english teacher.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Joshua Warren Sales didn't plan to run for Congress. He planned to teach. Running for Congress is just a bigger classroom.

Joshua has been teaching AP English Language and Composition in Davidson County, Tennessee; working with students from underserved communities in North Nashville, preparing them for college, and helping them find their voice. He has sent students to Yale, MIT, and Dartmouth. He shows up every day in a classroom that reflects the district he wants to represent: working class, diverse, full of potential that too often goes unsupported by the people in power.

He served in the Army after growing up in Live Oak, California, a town not so different from Dover or Erin or Cross Plains. He came to Tennessee for a reason and stayed for every reason: his wife Rebecca, who does research at Vanderbilt; the farmers up before dawn; the quiet conviction that this state is worth fighting for.

He is running for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District because someone had to. Josh has committed to 50 town halls across all 14 counties: the Open Door Tour. No invite required. A real conversation with every community in the district.

His platform: lower costs for working families, protect healthcare, support veterans, invest in rural infrastructure and education, and hold Washington accountable.

No PAC money. No consultants. Just a teacher who learned that the answer is always in the room, if someone will just ask the questions.

The door is open. It always will be.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Life ain't fair, but it's not supposed to be rigged. Right now, it is rigged in the favor of the wealthiest Americans, not for you. I want to rewrite the rules to help working class individuals, because we're the people that make this country what it is. The rich don't build our houses. The rich don't farm our fields. The rich don't fight our wars. The working class deserves someone who actually represents them, not someone who is just pretending to be one of us. We need tax cuts for the workers, not for the big businesses. We need tax cuts for families, not for billionaires. We need tax cuts that put money back into your pocket, not some off shore account.As a teacher, education is important to me. Whether that's accessible Pre-K, or affordable college, and everything in between. "Education is the great equalizer of mankind" - was said by Horace Mann in 1848, and it stands true today. You cannot point out which child will be the doctor that cures cancer. Which one will develop energy independence. Which one will be our next president. I believe in opening opportunities for all of our children, not just the ones that can afford private school. That goes for kids in the countryside just as much as it does kids in the cities.When I was in the Army, we learned the Soldier's Creed. Integrity wasn't a talking point — it was a standard you were held to. Today, most politicians on both sides of the aisle can't say the same.

Tennessee leads the nation in rural hospital closures per capita. Nearly half our households can't cover basic expenses. Over 160,000 Tennessee veterans are receiving disability compensation — many waiting too long, traveling too far. Washington set these conditions. Washington hasn't fixed them.

To me, integrity means accountability. And it's time to hold this government accountable to the people who sent them there.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I'm passionate about giving people the access to opportunity. The government shouldn't be in the business of holding people up, but it also shouldn't be holding them down.

We need affordable healthcare, education, housing.

We need access to quality - locally sourced food.

We need to end forever wars.

We need to balance our budget.

We need to ensure social security is solvent.

We need to hold the rich accountable for the mess they made.

None of this is radical. Eisenhower had a 91% top marginal tax rate. Nixon promised clean water and air as an American birthright. Reagan worked to ban assault weapons. These aren't radical positions, they're Republican talking points I happen to agree with.