Feature photo by Shauna Reynolds
Story by Shauna Reynolds
On a hot Sunday morning, 44 days before the November election, Tennessee State House candidate Luis Mata gathered with volunteers and staff at a local park. Again.
Mata and his team are strikingly young. Young volunteers, young staff, young candidate. What they lack in age, they compensate for with determination.
The group often meets at Hilltop Rosenwald Park in Smyrna, Tennessee, before rounds of door-knocking and sign-dropping in the community. The crowd varies from week to week, but the goal remains the same: to tell every Murfreesboro, La Vergne and Smyrna voter within the oddly-drawn boundaries of Tennessee House District 49 about Mata. The 28-year-old opposes Republican incumbent Mike Sparks on the Nov. 5 ballot.
As Mata described his team’s outreach objective, “You know our motto, one door at a time, every single door, right?”
The District
Rutherford County voters elected or reelected four representatives to the state house in 2020, with the closest race in District 49. Redistricting throughout the state added a fifth district to the county in 2022. But the district’s appearance on heat maps indicating flippable seats may not be a good predictor. The district has shape-shifted in recent years, thanks to redistricting after the 2020 census. It still encompasses portions of Murfreesboro, La Vergne and Smyrna — including the neighborhood surrounding Hilltop Rosenwald Park.
The seat goes up for election every two years, and one thing remains consistent in District 49: since Sparks was voted into office in 2010, he has not lost an election.
If Mata wins, he joins a state house dominated by a Republican supermajority. Democrats currently hold about a quarter of the House seats, so a few flipped districts might seem insignificant. Some representatives are vocal enough to make waves. Justin Pearson, Justin Jones and current U.S. Senate candidate Gloria Johnson, the so-called “Tennessee Three,” drew the attention of national media and the ire of Republican colleagues by participating in a gun control protest from the House chambers.
But noise doesn’t get bills passed. And before Mata can add his own voice, he must convince enough voters to say “yes.” According to 2020 Census data, each Tennessee House district includes about 70,000 people. Mata can’t do it alone, but with a force of determined young volunteers and staffers, he can try.
“I will not be able to talk to all the voters that I need to talk to to win this race,” Mata said, “which is why volunteers are crucial to this. That’s why our team is crucial to this.”
“He kind of dragged me back”
When experienced campaign worker Jonathan Escobar wanted to take some time away from politics, Mata had other plans.
“We have really similar backgrounds,” said Escobar, Mata’s political director. “So he really wanted me on the team. And I was going to take a break. I was originally going to take a break from politics this summer, and then he kind of dragged me back into it.”
Escobar is 18 years old. He and Mata have spent much of their lives dealing with the immigration system. Mata arrived from Mexico with his mother at age 5. Escobar was born in the U.S. a few years after his parents immigrated from El Salvador. He is still helping them navigate the associated legal issues.
As political director, Escobar works as Mata’s right-hand man. 80% of his job is dropping signs and knocking on doors. It isn’t as intimidating as some might think, he said.
Compared to phone banking, there’s less aggression in face-to-face interactions. Regardless of political ideology, people are less likely to be at their own front doors, Escobar said.
“People come in with this idea that door knocking is really scary,” Escobar said. “Especially in an area where we have no trespassing laws and ‘stand your ground’ laws. The idea of door knocking sounds very scary.”
That Sunday in September, Escobar delivered and installed requested yard signs in a few District 49 neighborhoods. It’s a common second step after a positive response at a door or over the phone. He grinned after turning onto a cul-de-sac where two facing lawns displayed Harris Walz 2024 signs. Only one of the two requested a sign from Mata. Escobar knocked on the door of the second, anyway.
“Not home, sadly, but it’s okay,” Escobar said. “I got to leave a flyer. So that’s one touch right there. Luis would love this cul-de-sac.”
Mata recognizes this relentless hopefulness from his own youth.
“I see myself in Jonathan a lot,” Mata said a few weeks later about Escobar. “I see myself as an 18 year old looking at our political landscape, seeing how divided we were, and not seeing somebody who looked like me, thought like me, talked like me in the rooms where decisions are being made.”
There are two ways to react to that: lose hope in the process, or gain motivation, Mata said.
“The youth is the future”
The next Sunday morning, 37 days before the election, another crowd of volunteers met Mata’s crew at the park. This time, Davidson County Young Democrats, a group from the blue-leaning bordering county, showed up to help. About 20 people chatted in English and Spanish until Gabby Salinas, the representative-elect from District 96 in West Tennessee, got the attention of the rambunctous crowd.
She stood on a picnic table to introduce Mata and thank the volunteers.
“When people say, where are the young people at?” Salinas said, “We were at the canvasses. We were at the phone banks, and we will be at the state capitol when we get Luis elected.”
Salinas is only the second Latina to be elected to the Tennessee Legislature. If District 49 elects Mata, he will be the first Latino man. He followed with his own tabletop speech.
“You hear a lot about, you know, the youth is the future,” Mata said. “But the youth is the right now, and we are showcasing that right here today, right? Take a look around you, right?”
The youth took their voter lists, campaign literature and newly charged enthusiasm, and went to knock on some doors.
“One more touch”
Willow Justiss works as Mata’s field manager. Her job includes wrangling volunteers, calling potential voters and canvassing. She embraces door knocking for a practical reason.
“A lot of the work we’re doing is tough on our bodies,” said Justiss, an MTSU graduate student. “Imagine asking somebody who’s like, 50 or 60, to do this six days a week. I feel like I can barely do it six days a week, and I’m only 23.”
She’ll stop when she has to, she said.
When residents answer Justiss’ jaunty knock, they see a bubbly young woman ready to talk about the election. If they shrug when she asks which issues they find important, she pivots to three of Mata’s main talking points: public schools, infrastructure and working families. These sound vague, but they allow Justiss to talk about Mata’s incumbent opponent Mike Sparks and his voting record. Sparks is pro-charter school, pro-interstate choice lanes and pro-grocery tax.
Campaigning in a deep red state, Justiss doesn’t mention more divisive issues unless the resident brings them up, but Mata’s website touts endorsements from Moms Demand Action, Planned Parenthood and other organizations supporting progressive causes.
The knocks often go unanswered, and those who do answer can be hesitant to talk. Other times conversations veer off topic. At one house, Justiss advised a homeowner on paint colors for her shutters and doors. Back in her car, she recorded the interaction in MiniVAN, a mobile canvassing app.
“I’m gonna put ‘lean support,’” Justiss said. “Because it was a very positive conversation. Of course, she wants to do more research, but I think one more touch could get her to give us that yes.”
“What do you care about?”
Like Escobar and Justiss, Mata spends many of his working hours meeting the residents of District 49.
“Almost all day, every day,” Mata said. “Except for a few hours of trying to bring in the dollars to be able to supplement the ability for me to get other people to help us spread that word.”
Mata remains optimistic during this uphill battle.
“When you have a real vision and a real mission and the steps to get there, you view this as enjoyable, even during the rough parts, right?” Mata said. “You like what you do. You go out there every day and you give it everything you have. That’s why, since day one, no days off, right?”
He’s also taking the time to listen.
“We’re out there and we ask the important question, what do you care about?” Mata said.
The answers often point back to Mata’s focus on public schools, infrastructure and working families.
“We just want to be able to live and work safely and affordably in our communities,” Mata said.
“When you actually are talking to people, caring about their issues that they face every single day, they’re willing to have the conversation with you, and can find that common ground … a good solution is a good solution.”
Shauna Reynolds is the Lifestyles Editor for MTSU Sidelines.
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