Mary Ann Young

Mary Ann Young earned a high school diploma from Franklin High School and a bachelor's degree from Middle Tennessee State University. Her career experience includes working as a product manager.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I'm Mary Ann Young, running for TNHD 37 because Rutherford County deserve a representative who actually listens. I've called Rutherford County home for nearly 30 years. My path to this race started local: I fought a warehouse development that threatened our community. These fights taught me something, when neighbors organize, we can win, even against long odds.

I spent almost 30 years in fintech and B2B payments, most recently as Director of Digital Customer Experience. That background means I know how to dig into complicated systems, find where they are failing people and fix them.

As your state representative, I'll fight to eliminate the grocery tax by closing corporate loopholes, and push for a moratorium on data centers. I'll defend women's rights to make their own healthcare decisions and work to protect access to reproductive care and affordable healthcare for every family in this district.

District 37 needs a voice that shows up - at forums, at town halls, at your door. I've built this campaign from the ground up and I'll represent you the same way: present, prepared and accountable.

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?

I'll fight to close corporate loopholes and eliminate the grocery tax. Tennessee’s regressive tax structure asks working families to pay a larger share of their income than corporations do, and the grocery tax hits hardest for women, who are more likely to be the primary grocery shoppers and more likely to be raising children on a single income or a tighter household budget. Closing corporate loopholes to fund the repeal makes this a matter of fairness, not austerity — shifting the cost of government back onto entities that can afford it and off the backs of women managing household budgets.I want to repeal school vouchers and fully fund public schools. Tennessee’s voucher program diverts public dollars into private schools with no accountability to taxpayers, while public schools — serving the vast majority of District 37’s kids — are left underfunded. This affects women directly: they make up the overwhelming majority of the teaching workforce and disproportionately carry the burden when public schools are under-resourced, whether as educators, PTA organizers, or parents managing the gaps. Fully funding public education is an economic security issue for working families and a workforce issue for the women who staff our schools.The state needs to expand Medicaid, repeal the abortion ban, and protect women’s health. Tennessee’s refusal to expand Medicaid has pushed rural hospitals to the brink of closure, cutting off access to maternity and reproductive care in exactly the communities that can least afford to lose it. Combined with the state’s abortion ban — one of the most restrictive in the country — women in Tennessee are losing both preventive and emergency reproductive healthcare at once. Expanding Medicaid and repealing the ban isn’t just healthcare policy; it’s about whether women in this state can get basic, life-preserving medical care at all.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I started fighting for local control and land use, so I guess this is most of my passion. I am against data centers until more local governments have time to understand the environmental repercussions and can create guardrails around where they are allowed to be built and have to maintain watchful eyes over water and air quality.

As a commuter from Murfreesboro to Brentwood and Nashville for 25+ years, roads are also a passion. Fully fund road and bridge repairs and stop toll/choice lanes. Choice lanes effectively charge working people twice — once in gas tax, again to avoid sitting in traffic — and fall hardest on lower-income commuters. Investing in public infrastructure instead of toll lanes keeps mobility affordable and equitable.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Tennessee AFL-CIO Labor Council; Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood