Smith misleading public on Johnson

Campaigning to hold on to his seat in House District 13, state Rep. Eddie Smith is falsely accusing his opponent, Gloria Johnson, of voting against increased educational funding when she held the same seat in 2014. What Smith conveniently leaves out is that Johnson did vote against the governor’s budget that year, but only because she was supporting two alternative balanced budgets, both of which would have increased funding for teachers’ salaries in an attempt to honor a promise made by Gov. Bill Haslam.

District 13 voters have a clear choice. They can re-elect a man who resorts to misinformation to win and relies on out-of-state funders to fill his campaign coffers, including groups seeking to undermine our public schools with vouchers; or they can vote for Johnson, who listens to the people who actually live here and scares those big moneyed interest groups because she’s not afraid to stand up to them. Puppet or true representative who will fight for what real Tennesseans need in Nashville? Vote for Gloria Johnson.

Catherine Henschen, Knoxville