Meet Lemichael Wilson

Libertarian Candidate For Governor Of Tennessee

There’s a grassroots movement in the state of Tennessee to advance individual liberties and break free of the confines of a two-party political system. At the forefront of that effort is Lemichael Wilson, the Libertarian Party’s endorsed candidate for Governor.

Born in Memphis, TN, Wilson is a restaurateur and businessman who has a passion for the people of his community. His restaurant chain, Salad Expressions, is designed to bring healthy eating alternatives to the public in a world where pizza and hamburgers reign supreme.

At the age of 2, Wilson’s family relocated to Chicago where he remained until 2015. While visiting his hometown of Memphis in 2015, he noticed an unsettling disparity between the citizens of Chicago and the citizens of Memphis. As he puts it, “ I was in my hometown, and I couldn’t help but notice that the people had no idea what they were missing in terms of opportunity. I felt like they didn’t realize that they could, and should expect more from government and a better life for themselves. So I told my wife, I didn’t want to leave. We went back home to Chicago, packed up the house, and moved to Memphis right then.”

Immediately after his return to Memphis, Lemichael started looking for ways to improve the community he loved so much. He knew the best place to make the most impact was in government. Thus, he began his campaign for Mayor of the city. Wilson ran on a platform of improving the failing education system that he felt intellectually imprisoned the people of Memphis, ending predatory lending practices, and improving the conditions of the city’s culture and infrastructure.

Now Wilson has his sights set on an even more influential seat. He is running for Governor of Tennessee. He plans to advance the Libertarian principles he vehemently embraces, throughout the entire state. You can read more about his Libertarian platform HERE. Running as a Libertarian, however, has already proven to be an obstacle-ridden endeavor. Wilson quickly learned that there is a serious problem with ballot discrimination embedded deeply within Tennessee’s election policies.

To run for office as a Republican, Democrat, or Independent a candidate needs to submit 25 signatures of support with his or her application to be on the ballot. To run as a Libertarian, that number jumps to 56,083 - a number based on a percentage of total voters in the most recent gubernatorial election. Wilson submitted his 25 signatures to run as a Libertarian by the April deadline, leaving it up to the Libertarian Party to tackle the remaining 56,058 by August.

Not surprisingly though, he was immediately disqualified to run, because the election commission invalidated some of his 25 signatures. That won’t stop him from pushing forward though. Wilson and his campaign staff have launched one of the largest, most comprehensive, write-in campaigns in state election history.

He also has no intention of giving up on getting his name on the ballot with an “L” next to it. He says, “The Libertarian Party is the third largest party in the country behind the Republicans and the Democrats. It shouldn’t be this hard to represent your party on an election ballot, but we are going to continue gathering more signatures and submit those so that they [the election commission] won’t have a choice but to put a Libertarian option on the ballot for Tennesseeans in the next election.”

When asked if he believes Tennessee could ever migrate away from a political duopoly, Wilson replied, “Yes! My hope is that the state can move away from ANY party system. Individuals should be elected for their virtues and not their party. I want you to vote for me because I’ve connected with you and you trust that your quality of life will improve because I’m representing you.”

This rings true in some of his most notable policy positions. Wilson believes that government should either help the entire population equally, or get out of peoples’ way. He plans to install a Governor’s advisory council which would consist of experts in various private sectors that would help identify what the best practices and challenges are in all aspects of Tennesseans’ lives for the purposes of reducing government’s engagement in those sectors respectively.

Perhaps the most ambitious of his plans, is to incentivize the construction of a speed rail system that would span the state and allow people who live in Memphis to commute to a job in Nashville and vice-versa in under an hour, or bolster tourism in Gatlinburg by providing cheap, efficient, fast, environmentally friendly, public transportations for families in Nashville, or Chattanooga to visit on a day trip.

Those are just some of the plans Wilson’s vision for Tennessee entails, but the bigger picture is in the values by which he plans to govern. In describing what a vote for Lemichael Wilson would mean for the betterment of Tennesseeans, he simply said, “Voting for me is not about what I would do as governor, it’s about what you want me to do. My plan is to govern for the people through innovation that would improve the quality of life for everyone in Tennessee.”

If you would like to help donate to Mr. Wilson’s campaign, you can do so by clicking HERE.