John D. Ragan Jr.
Republican | Tennessee
Candidate Profile*
Conservative
*Additional information appears below for educational purposes; however, only data received prior to the candidate deadline was considered during Panel Evaluation.
BIOGRAPHY
Name
John D. Ragan Jr.
Party
Republican
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
State Rep., Dist. 33
Incumbent
Yes
Links
EDUCATION
United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, BS, 1971
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Datona Beach, MS, 1986
University of Southern California, Los Angles, professional studies, 1977
University of Oklahoma, Lawton, graduate studies, 1979
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, professional studies, 2001
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, post graduate studies, 1995
WORK & MILITARY
United States Air Force, Lt Col, 1971-1995National
AFFILIATIONS
Grace Baptist Church, member, Anderson County Chamber of Commerce
member, Oak Ridge City Chamber of Commerce, member
Maimi Carmichael School Organization, Honoray Board Member, Daedalians (fraternal order of military pilots)
member, USAFA Association of Graduates, member
Veterans of Foreign Wars, member, American Legion
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
Tennessee State Representative District 33, 2010-present
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
None
Race
Previous Races
SCORECARDS
CONSERVATIVE ORGANIZATIONS
2020
100%
2012
100%
2021-2022
92%
2021
88%, 89% (cum.)†
2020
|100%
2012
|100%
2021-2022
|92%
2021
|88%, 89% (cum.)†
LIBERAL ORGANIZATIONS
ENDORSEMENTS*
*These endorsements were received after the deadline and were not considered in the Panel Evaluations and are for additional educational purposes only.
CONSERVATIVE (5)
National Rifle Association (NRA) PVF
Tennessee Right to Life
*Conservatives For A Clean Energy Future
*Stand For Health Freedom
*Patriot Parents
OTHER (1)
*Tennessee Employees Action Movement PAC
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (1)
National Federation of Independent Businessmen
OTHER INFORMATION
Vote record from votesmart
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
To save the life of the mother.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Strongly Agree
I support 'aid in dying' laws which legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Strongly Disagree
ECONOMY
What changes, if any, should be made to the tax code?
Professional privilege taxes should be abolished as soon as practicable.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
Tennessee has a balanced budget and has every year I have been in office. Nonetheless, I would drastically curtail funding for university diversity, equity and inclusion offices.
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Disagree
Tennessee's Constitution supports a free public education for K-12. Additionally, our state also has the Hope Scholarship for those who qualify academically and otherwise with the desire to attend college. Beyond these, there is also Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect for those who qualify and wish to further their education or professional training. However, not everyone wants to go to college or can benefit from it.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Strongly Disagree
Our federal and state constitutions, both, guarantee protection for the divinely bestowed right to freedom of religion. Earning a living or running a business are not acceptable reasons for government to abridge this right.
Under what circumstances can government close churches?
Such is possible only under an imminent and indisputable threat to public safety and, then, only for the minimum time absolutely necessary to ameliorate the threat.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D)Tax-payer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be de-funded.
“Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian.” --- Henry Ford. It is important not to conflate healthcare with health insurance. That is to say, having health insurance does not guarantee adequate health care. Health insurance premiums and deductibles must be affordable. Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary.
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
Vaccinations may be justified only to the extent absolutely and indisputably essential to protect public safety and, then, exceptions must exist for religious objections, demonstrated proof of natural immunity and individual medical contraindications.
NATIONAL SECURITY
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of Islamic terrorism?
Terrorism, whether motivated by Islamic extremism or other sources, is unacceptable and should be resisted through all constitutional and other legal means.
I support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the separation barrier in the West Bank, allow full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Strongly Disagree
IMMIGRATION
The U.S. should do more to physically secure the southern border.
Strongly Agree
Unmitigated, illegal breach of US borders unquestionably violates our national sovereignty and creates an unacceptable burden for US taxpayers. The flood of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border, along with the attendant torrent of dangerous drugs and serious crime are creating irreparable harm to our nation. This is the equivalent of an invasion and must be controlled with whatever legal means necessary.
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Only those individuals who meet the criteria established by our Congressionally passed, national immigration laws should be allowed to immigrate to the US and, then, only under the legally prescribed circumstances in those laws.
EDUCATION
I support school choice, including voucher programs, tax credits, charter schools, private schools, and home schools.
Strongly Agree
The Tennessee Constitution requires our state to offer a free public education for our residents in K-12. When we have mentally capable individuals being awarded diplomas that are illiterate and innumerate, these individuals are not receiving an education. Likewise, when graduates of our K-12 education system are ignorant of basic civics and lack the minimum essential education to be able to earn a living, these individuals are uneducated. Therefore, our education system must improve.
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
I rely upon the wisdom of our founders on this topic: “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” --- President George Washington "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." --- President John Adams.
I support adding gender identity as a specially protected class in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Disagree
Scientific reality: Except for very rare congenital conditions such as hermaphrodism, every human being is, either, male, or, female, at the moment of conception. From that point onward, each cell of a normal human body, not involved in reproduction of the species, has an XX or an XY chromosome. Regardless of what one may think or feel, the presence of these chromosomes in every cell unequivocally identifies that human being as, either, a biological female, or a biological male.
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition
Strongly Agree
Marriage has existed for millennia with no government definition required. A recent US Supreme Court ruling cannot alter that reality.
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Strongly Disagree
Critical Race Theory is an outgrowth of Marxism and is dependent upon an atheistic world view. Therefore it is incompatible with our nation's founding principles: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.."
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I am a professing Christian belonging to the Southern Baptist denomination. I cannot claim to be sinless, only divinely forgiven for my failings and shortcomings. Moreover, I agree with our nation's founders that Biblically adherent Christianity is best basis for our Constitutional Republic's governance.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Strongly Disagree
The only legal exception to government verified/produced photo identification for voting is a signature verification mail-in ballot for one of Tennessee's statutory reasons to vote by absentee ballot.
What laws would you propose to change present voting practices?
I support laws increasing the penalties for legally verifiable voter fraud. Additionally, I also support additional laws adding protections for ballot integrity and vote count integrity.
EQUALITY
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Racism is a belief. It holds that race fundamentally determines human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. I personally believe that racism is a contemptible character flaw of cognitive dissonance. Moreover, it violates a basic founding principle expressed in our Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal." Nonetheless, a personal belief without action, regardless of how misguided, is physically harmful to no one beyond its possessor. Therefore, while I vehemently disagree with such a belief, what another person believes but does not act on, is not a proper subject for legislation or other government action. Moreover, actions based racism that interfere with the rights of others are already prohibited by our existent, civil rights laws. Therefore, proper enforcement of our civil rights laws provides domestic security.
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
As a concept, reparations are the principle of payments to a person who was wronged by the person who ostensibly wronged them. There is not a single person currently alive in the US who was a slave prior to the Thirteenth Amendment. Likewise, there is not a single person currently alive in the US who was a slave owner prior to the Thirteenth Amendment. Therefore, at the current time in the US, there is no one to whom reparations are due and from whom reparations are collectable.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Which comes closest to your view? A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. B) Stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost.
Environment laws and regulations must be based upon irrefutably sound science and unquestionably valid mathematics. Any such laws and regulations not so grounded are detrimental to our republic and its economy.
I support the use of hydraulic fracking to extract oil and natural gas resources.
Strongly Agree
These techniques have been used in Tennessee for over 70 years without measurable negative impacts. Moreover, beyond nuclear production, natural gas is the most environmentally friendly electricity generation fuel available.
ABOUT YOU
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
My answer to this question is that I agree with Thomas Jefferson as noted in the quotes from him repeated below” "A free people [claim] their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.” “The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management.” “It is to secure these rights that we resort to government at all.” “A wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned…is the sum of good government.”
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
• CATO institute ranks Tennessee among the top 5 freest states in the union. • Ballotpedia ranks Tennessee as the lowest per capita debt state in the nation. • NBC’s Select Magazine ranks Tennessee as the second lowest taxed state in the nation (Alaska is 1). • The Reason Foundation ranked Tennessee’s road system in the top 10 in the nation. • US News and World Report ranked Tennessee as the most fiscally stable state in the nation, long-term. • Forbes ranks Tennessee in top 10 states for business. • American Enterprise Institute ranks Tennessee among top 10 states for businesses ---- Tennessee was ranked 49th educationally in 2010 when I took office but now ---- • ReportCard of American Education ranks Tennessee K-12 education as 24 in nation (2018) • Schoolaroo ranks Tennessee K-12 education as number 5 in national high school graduation rate (2021) • WalletHub ranks Tennessee K-12 education as 28 in nation (2022) • Intelligent.com Higher Education Team ranks Tennessee K-12 education as 18 nationally in student academic achievement (2022) • I voted for the rirst major funding reform for schools in over 30 years --- --- Some of my conservative bills from the 112th General assembly --- • HB 575… Public Chapter 550... Prohibits vaccine passports • HB 577… Public Chapter 380... Parental opt-out for objectionable sex ed • HB 580... Public Chapter 493... "Prohibited Concepts in Education " Press dubbed "Anti-CRT Bill." • HB 1266… Public Chapter 448... Protects teacher employment benefits after in-school assault by students • HB 1895... Public Chapter 909... Protects girls' sports in middle school and high school • HB 2316... Public Chapter 1005... Protects women's sports in college
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
What else would you like voters to know about you, including your legislative priorities?
- Political Values - 1. The Rule of Law - 2. Individual Liberty - 3. Limited Government - 4. Free Enterprise - 5. Fiscal Responsibility - 6. Low Taxes - 7. Pro-Life - 8. Pro-Gun Rights - --- Priorities - 1. God - 2. Family - 3. Country - 4. Integrity - 5. Service to Others - 6. Excellence - 7. Example -
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Police officers should be personally immune from prosecution for conduct consistent with departmental policy (qualified immunity) while on duty.
Agree
My limitation on this statement is that police officers must be following lawful procedures and orders and executing their duties with due care to avoid gross negligence or incompetence.
I support redirecting funds from police departments to mental health and community programs.
Strongly Disagree
The current situations in Portland, Los Angles, Chicago, New York, etc., unquestionably demonstrate the total lack of wisdom in cutting funds from police departments.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
Felons, mentally ill or mentally incompetent citizens should not be approved for firearm operation, ownership or possession.
Victims of gun violence should be able to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers.
Strongly Disagree
A gun is a machine just as is an automobile. Unless there is a design or manufacturing defect in a machine that causes harm, it is the operator of the machine that is responsible for any damages caused by that machine. Therefore, the manufacturer of a firearm is no more liable for damage caused by a properly designed and functioning machine than is the manufacturer of an automobile.
