Early Voting starts Friday. Whether you take advantage of this two-week opportunity or vote on Aug. 6, I hope that if you plan to pull a Republican ballot, you will please vote to keep Michele Reneau as our state representative for District 27. She is a rare elected official who has kept her promises, listens and communicates with all constituents and has been one of - if not the most - transparent official in Nashville (or any level, for that matter).

Michele has earned accolades across party lines for her transparency and accountability.

I was super impressed that she wrote a newsletter at the end of each week during legislative sessions to recap what had happened, how it impacted our district, how she voted and why, and what was coming up the next week. She did that while preparing for the next week, attending community events across the district and catching up with family, which includes five children.

Another notable characteristic is that she doesn’t bow to big money or party leadership, but listens to her constituents. And she watches out for ‘the oft forgotten,’ while others often focus on big business.

Michele’s priorities as a conservative Republican have been to protect the unborn and children in general, strengthen families, limit government oversight, reduce unnecessary regulations for small farms where many of us enjoy buying produce and meats, protect individual rights and freedoms while limiting those for illegal immigrants, protect our Second Amendment rights, and work with our local school board to develop and pass a bill to limit screen time for younger students.

As a MAHA supporter, she also was successful in getting dangerous dyes removed from school lunches in Tennessee public schools.

As the daughter of a veteran who is married to a veteran, it is natural that veterans’ programs also are important to Michele – as well as local emergency responders and services. She doesn’t seek endorsements, but has been endorsed by several of these groups, as well as Tennessee’s Right to Life Commission.

Michele has been and will continue to be a hard worker for us all. I believe she has earned our votes for re-election as our state representative in District 27, and hope you’ll join me in voting for her.

Melissa Barrett