The Volunteer: David Hatley's Independent Run for Tennessee Governor | Building Tennessee Ep. 1

David Hatley never once thought about running for office. Then his wife Deb made a suggestion. Episode 1 of Building Tennessee: an independent run for Governor of Tennessee begins in Johnson City. The Volunteer opens with how the rest of the race sees him and spends the next twenty minutes showing what they're missing. The launch of Build Tennessee Night at the King Centre, on the night of the primaries. The story he tells that most candidates would bury: $43,000 in bad checks at 21, three weeks in jail, the debt paid back, and the day one year ago when a judge handed back the rights he'd lived without for thirty years. Deb on the day she calls "David's Christmas Day." And his father's words, the ones that started all of it: "If you want something to be better, you need to do it yourself." David built Whisper, the largest golf cart manufacturer in Tennessee, and LPI, the largest hot tub manufacturer in America. More than 750 Tennesseans work across his companies. Building Tennessee follows David and Deb from the factory floor to election night, filmed as it happens. CHAPTERS 00:00 How the race sees him (Behind the Headlines, Memphis) 01:04 The launch: "This place made me" 03:06 Deb on America's Bash 04:29 The question that started it 05:53 The case against politicians 07:21 How he built it 09:59 The hardest mistake 12:12 Getting his rights back 14:52 Police, prisons, second chances 16:31 How Knoxville sees him (Tennessee This Week) 17:59 "An independent can't win" 20:33 The pledge, and primary night New episodes weekly. Subscribe to follow the whole run. Join the movement at hatleyforgovernor.com 🎬 Directed, produced & filmed by Dylan Seals, Verbell.Ltd G4BWNSMENBYPLXMQ