The Choice Before House District 33 Democrats
Anne Backus and Kelly McCampbell joined Anderson County Democrats for a voter education forum. The question now is not just who voters prefer — it is what kind of campaign Democrats will carry into November.
Anna Golladay moderated the House District 33 Democratic Candidate Forum with Anne Backus and Kelly McCampbell in Oak Ridge.
Most voters do not watch candidate forums for entertainment.
They watch because they are trying to answer a harder question: who can carry our values, our communities, and our case into the next fight?
Democratic primary voters are not just choosing between two names on a ballot. They are helping decide what kind of campaign moves into November: what issues get centered, what voters get reached, what kind of leadership speaks for this district, and how Democrats make the case against Republican incumbent Rick Scarbrough.
That is why Anderson County Democrats hosted a voter education forum with both Democratic candidates for Tennessee House District 33: Anne Backus and Kelly McCampbell.
This was not a rally. It was not an endorsement. And it was not a box to check.
It was a public record voters can use.
A note on the format: Candidates were not given the questions in advance. Each campaign was provided the forum format ahead of time, including timing, structure, and the general topics the forum would cover. Both candidates were asked the same moderated questions and were given equal time to respond.
Early voting for the Democratic primary runs July 17 through August 1. Election Day is Thursday, August 6.
What Voters Should Listen For
Because both candidates are Democrats, there are broad values they share. Both spoke about public education, healthcare, affordability, working families, local communities, and the need to compete in November.
But primaries are not only about shared values.
They are also about emphasis, strategy, biography, coalition, communication, and the kind of campaign each candidate believes can reach voters beyond the Democratic base.
Voters should listen for more than agreement on issues. They should listen for clarity. They should listen for preparation. They should listen for how each candidate connects state policy to daily life in Anderson County. They should listen for how each candidate talks about people who do not already agree with us. They should listen for who can make the stakes of this race feel real.
The forum was moderated by Anna Golladay and focused on experience, priorities, strategy, and approach. That framework matters because voters deserve more than slogans. They deserve to hear how candidates think, how they answer under time limits, how they explain tradeoffs, and how they make their case when the whole room is listening.
Voters gathered in Oak Ridge to hear directly from both Democratic candidates before the Aug. 6 primary.
Why They’re Running
The forum opened with each candidate introducing herself and explaining why she is running.
Anne Backus spoke about her decades living, working, and volunteering in this community, including her career at Y-12, her work with children and families, and her commitment to public schools, healthcare, wages, housing, and working families.
Kelly McCampbell spoke about running as a working mom, an engineer, a Y-12 worker, and a parent raising a school-age daughter in Tennessee. She framed her campaign around urgency, generational leadership, and the need to reach voters Democrats have not been reaching.
For voters still learning about the candidates, the opening statements are the best place to start. They show how each candidate introduces herself, what experiences she leads with, and what kind of campaign she is asking voters to support.
The Strategy Question
One of the most important exchanges of the night was not only about policy. It was about strategy.
Candidates were asked what Democrats must do differently this time to be more competitive in House District 33.
That question goes to the heart of this primary.
The August nominee will not be running in a vacuum. She will be running in a district Democrats have to fight for, against a Republican incumbent, in a state where the supermajority has used its power to push vouchers, restrict personal freedom, override local communities, and make life harder for working families.
So voters have a right to ask: What is the plan? Who needs to be reached? What has to change? What kind of campaign gives Democrats the strongest chance to compete?
Both candidates spoke about the difficulty of the race, the need to reach beyond the Democratic base, and the work required to move into November with a serious campaign.
For voters comparing the candidates, this may be one of the most important sections of the forum.
Anne Backus and Kelly McCampbell each made their case to Democratic primary voters during the House District 33 forum.
State Politics Is Local
In Anderson County, state politics is not distant.
It shows up in our schools, our hospitals, our utility bills, our roads, our libraries, our wages, our housing costs, and in how much control Nashville allows local communities to keep.
That is why the forum covered more than campaign biography. The candidates answered questions on public schools and vouchers, healthcare and mental health, affordability and wages, reproductive freedom, economic development, data centers, infrastructure, rural communities, and local representation.
These are not abstract issues. They shape whether families can afford to live here, whether children have strong public schools, whether people can access care, whether workers can get ahead, whether local communities have a voice in major development decisions, and whether Tennessee protects personal freedom or keeps taking it away.
State government touches all of it.
Public Schools and Vouchers
Public education was one of the major issues of the night.
Both candidates discussed vouchers, school funding, and the importance of protecting Tennessee’s public schools. For House District 33, this is local as much as it is statewide. Decisions made in Nashville affect classrooms, teachers, parents, students, and local budgets across Anderson County and beyond.
Healthcare, Mental Health, and Families
The candidates also discussed healthcare access, TennCare, mental health, addiction, and the strain families face when systems fail.
These issues are deeply connected to state policy. Decisions made by the legislature shape whether families can get care, whether hospitals and clinics are supported, and whether people in crisis can find help when they need it.
The forum covered public schools, healthcare, affordability, infrastructure, local control, and the path to November.
Affordability, Wages, and Housing
The forum also turned to the cost of living.
Candidates addressed wages, grocery costs, taxes, housing, and the pressure working families are feeling across Tennessee. Affordability is one of the most immediate concerns voters raise in nearly every community. The question for Democrats is how to connect our values to the everyday economic pressure people are living under.
Growth, Infrastructure, and Local Accountability
The conversation also included economic development, data centers, infrastructure, and how communities should approach growth.
For Anderson County, this is timely and important. Voters deserve leadership that takes both opportunity and accountability seriously: jobs, water, energy, roads, transparency, and whether local communities have what they need before major projects move forward.
Closing Cases
The forum ended with each candidate making her closing case: why her, why this race, and why now.
For voters who agree with both candidates on many Democratic values, the closing statements are worth watching closely. They show how each candidate understands the stakes, the challenge of November, and the kind of leadership she would bring to Nashville.
A Primary Is Where Voters Decide
A contested primary is not something to avoid. It is part of how voters shape the future of the party.
Our job as a county party is not to tell voters which candidate to support before a nominee has been chosen. Our job is to make sure voters have access to the candidates, the record, and the information they need to make a thoughtful choice.
We are not asking voters to watch every minute looking for a single “winning” moment. We are asking voters to listen for the things that matter in a race like this: clarity, preparation, values, strategy, connection, and the ability to make the stakes real to people who may not already agree with us.
That is the work of a primary. And now voters have a record they can use.
We are grateful to Anne Backus and Kelly McCampbell for participating, to Anna Golladay for moderating, and to every voter who attended, submitted questions, helped set up, ran sound, took photos, cleaned up, and took part in the process.
House District 33 Democrats have a choice to make.
We encourage every Democratic primary voter to watch, compare, visit both candidates’ websites, and make a plan to vote.
Learn more about the candidates here:
Kelly McCampbell for State Representative
Early voting runs July 17 through August 1. Election Day is Thursday, August 6.
