Fritts Brings Common Sense Campaign to Scott County

By Editor | July 7, 2026 |

Fritts Brings Common Sense Campaign to Scott County

By Shane Gilreath
SCN Contributing Editor
[email protected]

Photos by Shane Gilreath
Gubernatorial candidate State Rep. Monty Fritts made a campaign stop in Scott County last week, speaking with voters and fielding questions during a public forum at Timber Rock Lodge.

State Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston) arrived at Timber Rock Lodge last week looking less like a gubernatorial candidate and more like a friendly neighbor stopping in to say hello. Wearing a trucker’s cap- which he removed before addressing the crowd because, he said, he “didn’t want to be rude” – the Republican, who is seeking to replace Governor Bill Lee, greeted attendees with a smile and a simple observation.
“It’s a small world,” he said, suggesting there had been a measure of providence in both his candidacy and the circumstances that brought him to Scott County. Indeed, much had transpired to get him there. If there was a central theme to the visit, however, it was that politics was never part of his life plan, nor are politicians, it would seem, something he particularly admires. Public service is one thing, he suggested. Politics – and the abuses that can accompany it – are another entirely.
“I didn’t want to be in politics,” he told the gathering of roughly twenty people. “I had left federal service and was riding Harleys,” the politician said, going on to explain that Tennessee’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic convinced him he could no longer remain on the sidelines, recalling that longtime colleagues from his previous career were facing the loss of jobs because of what he viewed as government overreach.
“I figured I would do a career in law enforcement,” Fritts said, reflecting on his childhood ambition before elected office. “But life took other roads.”
Those roads eventually led him through nearly three decades in the Oak Ridge nuclear complex, including management positions at the Y-12 National Security Complex, work with Nuclear Fuel Services, and later as an office director with the National Nuclear Security Administration, the federal agency responsible for maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. That experience comes as Tennessee leaders continue positioning the state as a center for advanced nuclear technology and energy development, with legislators supporting policies designed to attract new nuclear investment and expand the state’s role in the industry.
Drawing on that experience, Fritts told Scott County residents that he hopes to bring the same management philosophy to state government that guided his career – a reliance on common sense, careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and making good use of the state’s existing resources rather than simply growing government.
That philosophy, he said, is inseparable from his Christian faith. A man of deep conviction, Fritts said he believes his campaign is rooted in God’s calling.
“I think God designed every one of us to solve great equations,” he told the room, frequently quoting both the federal and state constitutions, as well as the Founding Fathers, from memory. “The question is: will we respond?”
Call it God or coincidence, but it was Scott County’s response to the proposed Roberta II landfill that first brought Fritts to the local attention. During the debate over House Bill 2202, legislation that sought to halt the landfill project, Fritts became one of its outspoken supporters before it died in committee. Although the measure was ultimately rejected by the House Agriculture Committee, on which he serves, Fritts came out of committee chambers to meet directly with Scott County residents who had traveled to Nashville to support the bill.
Not surprisingly, the proposed landfill remained one of the major topics during last week’s meeting, with residents still reeling from both the legislation and, though largely unnamed, the suit brought by Rock Properties, which has yet to come to fruition.
“Our Constitution gives rights to the individual,” Fritts said during a discussion of the landfill’s potential impact on private property. “That’s why we’re a Republic.”
He sharply criticized the use of eminent domain, as well, in such industries, asking, “Should the government be allowed to fire you – or take your land – like eminent domain? I think eminent domain is a four-letter word.”
Fritts also took aim at fellow Republicans over questions of local decision-making, specifically House Agriculture Committee Chairman Rep. Chris Todd, who had equally drawn ire from the people of Scott County.
“It’s not Chris Todd’s business whether you have a landfill,” Fritts said, saying some legislators are deeply ingrained with industry lobbyists. “It’s none of my business.” Instead, he argued that local communities should determine their own future through what he repeatedly described as “common-sense government,” something, he said, he hopes to bring back to Nashville.
“There’’s no tree in Nashville,” he said. “No matter what Marsha Blackburn and John Rose (his opponents for governor) believe, there’s no money tree.”
The candidate, a veteran of Iraq and 2nd Amendment proponent, also addressed health care, eliminating Tennessee’s grocery sales tax, reducing standardized testing in public schools, expanding local control, and his opposition to requiring taxpayers to fund contraception, a debate that has raged across the country. But it was the idea that voters had little choice that fueled enthusiasm and led him into the political arena.
“Voting for the lesser of two evils has gotten us in trouble,” he said, as maybe a final pitch to voters. “Our children and our grandchildren are at risk. We better fix things.”

Following the Scott County forum, Fritts continued his campaign through the county with a visit to Huntsville, where he met with Mayor Dennis Jeffers. As of press time, he is the only gubernatorial candidate to make a campaign stop in Scott County.