Mandy Cook

Mandy Cook (Democratic Party) is running for election to the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent District 45. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 3, 2026. She advanced from the Democratic primary on August 6, 2026.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Tennessee's working families are being squeezed from every direction, and the legislature has the tools to help and keeps choosing not to use them. Mandy Cook is a mother, healthcare worker, and community organizer running for TN House District 45 because she believes Sumner County deserves a representative who actually reflects the community she serves.

Tennessee has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country, a near-total abortion ban that is driving OB-GYNs out of the state, a childcare crisis that costs working mothers more than a week's paycheck, and a grocery tax that hits low-income families hardest. These are not separate problems, they are the same problem, and they have the same solution: leadership that shows up, tells the truth, and fights for the people who sent her to Nashville.

Mandy does not believe in compromising her ideals. She will introduce legislation to strengthen medical emergency exceptions in the abortion ban, eliminate the grocery tax, expand childcare subsidies, and force recorded votes on the minimum wage, because every Tennessean deserves to know exactly where their representative stands. She is running a 100% people-powered campaign with no corporate PAC money, because she believes representatives should answer to the people, not the highest bidder.

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?

Accountability & People-Powered Representation

I’m running a 100% people-powered campaign because Sumner County deserves a representative who answers to the people, not corporate donors or the highest bidder. For too long, the legislature has had the tools to help working families and has chosen not to use them. My approach is simple: show up, tell the truth, and force every representative on record. In a supermajority Republican chamber, my most powerful tools are my vote, my voice, and my willingness to make every opponent defend their position to their constituents. A recorded vote is accountability, and accountability is how public pressure builds into change. I'm not going to Nashville to go along, I'm going to fight.Family Support

The grocery tax hits every family every week. At Tennessee's minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, full-time infant childcare can cost more than an entire week's paycheck, making it nearly impossible for parents to stay in the workforce. The minimum wage hasn't moved since 2009 while the cost of everything else has. I will fight to eliminate the grocery tax, expand childcare subsidies, increase eligibility for Tennessee's Child Care Certificate Program, and force a recorded vote on raising the minimum wage, because the economy isn't working for Sumner County families and I'll say so.Reproductive Health

Tennessee has the highest maternal mortality rate in the country, a near-total abortion ban driving OB-GYNs out of the state, and 33% of counties with no hospital, no birth center, and no OB care. These are not separate problems, they are a connected failure of state policy that has made Tennessee one of the most dangerous places in the country to be pregnant. I will introduce legislation to strengthen medical emergency exceptions in the abortion ban, fight every budget cycle for rural maternal healthcare funding, and push for expanded TennCare coverage for women of reproductive age.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

As a mother and healthcare worker living in Sumner County, the issues I am most passionate about are the ones I see every day, in my community, in my patients, and in my own life. Reproductive healthcare and maternal health are at the top of that list. Tennessee women are dying at rates that should be unacceptable to every Tennessean regardless of party. Family economic security drives everything else I fight for, the grocery tax, childcare affordability, and wages that actually reflect the cost of living are the difference between a family that gets ahead and one that can't. Every Tennessean deserves a representative who answers to the people, not the highest bidder.