Sevier County Mayor officially throws hat in for congress

Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters (R-Gatlinburg) wants to be the new 1st District congressman. Waters officially kicked off his campaign Tuesday on the Sevier County Courthouse steps to a crowd of more than 200. Waters, 53, has been Sevier County mayor for more than 28 years. “I have tried to repay that honor by working every day to help make our home a better place to live, work and play,” Waters said Tuesday. “Along the way, we’ve managed to keep tax rates among the lowest in the state while leading Sevier County to unprecedented economic growth and record low unemployment rates.” Waters’ appearance at Sevier County Courthouse was the second stop for the congressional hopeful Tuesday. His first stop was at Lois’ Restaurant in Newport, and after his visit in Sevier County he met with voters at Little Dutch Restaurant in Morristown. Waters feels the region needs “conservative leadership.” “Next month, we (Sevier County) will pass a balanced budget for the 28th consecutive year, ensuring, once again, that our county has a limited government exercising fiscal responsibility,” he said. “The citizens of the 1st District deserve this sort of proven record of conservative leadership from their next Congressman.”Waters assured the audience he would be just as accessible in Congress as he has been in Sevier County. “I’ve always maintained an open-door policy,” he said. “I’ve been eager to meet with citizens to hear their concerns and to work together to address their problems. Constituent service has remained a high priority of mine since I first took office, and I believe that the citizens of the 1st District have come to expect this same level of responsive government from their next Congressman.” What’s his motivation for running for Congress? “I believe that now, more than ever, we need proven conservative leadership and East Tennessee values in Washington,” Waters said. “These are values I learned growing up right here in the mountains of East Tennessee - Mountain Republican values. (These values include) hard work that I learned on our small family farm in Jones’ Cove. Values like faith that I learned listening to my grandfather’s sermons on Sundays. Values like the meaning of a dollar that I learned working my way through the University of Tennessee while becoming a first generation college graduate. And values like family that my wife, Terri, and I have learned…while raising our two children.” Waters says he is ready to take on Washington. “I want to take these Mountain Republican values to Washington and fight for the people of the 1st Congressional District.” Some of the issues he looks to become involved in include securing U.S. borders and to bring energy prices down by cutting the stranglehold that foreign countries have on the oil supply. “I want see us succeed in the War on Terror,” he said. “I want to work to protect the American family by supporting the values that made our nation great. I want to work to ensure that health care is accessible and affordable, particularly for our nation’s seniors. “I (also) want to ensure that our rights to bear arms and to own property are never stripped away,” he added. “I want to work bring new, better-paying jobs to the 1st District. And I want to continue my record of balancing budgets and keeping taxes low by working to get spending under control in our nation’s Capital. “But most of all, I want take my open-door approach and commitment to good government to Washington as your next Congressman.