Some people may think that John Pellicciotti is an unlikely political candidate. He is young, and comes from a technological rather than political background. The 27 year old University of Memphis Alumni will be running against four others in the Republican primary for District 93 State Representative.
“It is going to be an interesting primary,” Pellicciotti said.
He will be running against Jack Redden, Jon Stevenson, Mary Taylor-Shelby and Bill Wood for the opportunity to campaign against Democrat Mike Kernell, the current Representative who was first elected in 1974.
Pellicciotti decided to run while attending an Mpact Memphis Seminar when Senator Mark Norris spoke on the Tennessee State Budget.
According to Kernell, Tennessee is currently about $1 billion in debt.
“These people are using methods that will get them reelected but will not necessarily fix the state’s issues,” Pellicciotti said.
According to Pellicciotti, he is not running because of the money — state representatives make around $16,500 a year. He doesn’t want a career as a politician, he wants to help the community.
Pellicciotti is involved with several community service oriented organizations including Mpact Memphis, the Jaycees, Ronald McDonald House, The Miracle League of Memphis and Memphis Rotary East.
“Although John is one of the younger members of our club, he has been very active and has a lot of good ideas and suggestions,” Jim Weeks, President of Memphis Rotary East, said.
Part of the reason that he feels qualified is because of his community involvement.
“In order to be in a political position, you need three things,” Pellicciotti said. “You need an understanding of the community, an understanding of the people that are out there and an understanding of business because that is what drives our economy and creates jobs.”
He feels that his diverse background of both business and community service contribute to his ability to serve as State Representative. He has had technical work as an engineer, as well as, sales and management work and an internship with the Memphis City Government.
“There will probably be some people that will think that I am too young to do this, but there are some people who believe that it is good to have youth in leadership who haven’t been fighting the battles of Nashville for 20 or 30 years,” Pellicciotti said.
One of the things that he supports is accountability for our budget. Instead of increasing taxes, he feels that we should work with the money that we have.
“Until we can prove that we’ve been using the money efficiently, we have no right to go to the people of the state of Tennessee and ask for more money,” Pellicciotti said.
He has also expressed concern for the funding of higher education.
“The Tennessee legislature pulls funds from education first because it is one of the few areas still not under court order for federal matching funds,” Pellicciotti said.
This may be part of the reason that the state is considering shutting down several excellence centers, including The University of Memphis Center for Earthquake Research and Information as part of the DOGS proposal. The state is additionally considering cutting out remedial courses.
“We see all of the things that we need to fix, but there have not been enough people who have been willing to step up and address the issues,” Pellicciotti said.
