Sen. Democratic candidate Lowe Finney is from my hometown. The Finney's are a huge family and they are really nice people. They are like my family here. There are hundreds of us.
Welcome to rural Tennessee, this isn't uncommon.
I was spending the night with the Finneys the night Lowe was born. When I've seen him in the past, we've laughed about this.
He's getting some ink in his race against flip-flopping Don McCleary, who used to be the head football coach at UT Martin.
Six degrees. You know how that goes.
Incidentally, just for the record, Finney isn't in my district. He would be representing the Jackson/Gibson County area.
Thursday was for show and the TV cameras. The rest of the weekend, Lowe Finney described as "grunt work that's got to be done ... and I'm having a lot of fun doing it."
The 30-year-old Jackson attorney is the Democrats' candidate to unseat Democrat-turned-Republican state Sen. Don McLeary in November.
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"My heroes growing up (in Dresden) were John Tanner and Ned McWherter," Finney said. "If you're comfortable with them, you'd be comfortable with me."
He also touted incumbent Gov. Phil Bredesen's Cover Tennessee health insurance initiative and his record of bringing jobs into the state.
"I'm the person who can work directly with Gov. Bredesen to see that jobs come this way," he said.
Finney also said that even as he's talked with business owners, "the talk always came back to education, and that's crucial not only to developing a good workforce ... but if a plant manager looking to locate thinks his children or workers' children can get a good education, he's more likely to come here. It's that important."
Don Farmer, Democratic committeeman for the 27th District, said "Lowe has had to work from Ground Zero in terms of name recognition, but people like what they see."
John Mann, head of the Carroll County Democratic Party, said "we know Lowe won't flip-flop on us."
Billy Younger, who has been involved in public works projects in the town, talked with Finney about problems involved with grants to improve small town water and sewer systems. "It's a situation where you ultimately can't pay for it," he said.
He said he "liked what he saw" in Finney. His wife, McLemoresville recorder Barbara Younger, was more blunt. "He's not Don McLeary. I couldn't vote for him after what he did. I'm a Democrat."
I haven't seen Lowe is awhile. I always liked him, Of course, I still remember him as we was growing up. He was thoughtful and kind. He became involved with the local democratic party at a very young age.
He's also distantly related to Ned McWherter. I told you Dresden was a small town. (Story from Jackson Sun. Photo by Pete Wickham)
