Lauren Pinkston, an independent from Columbia, is running for Tennessee governor in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election. She is one of 15 candidates certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady election data.

Pinkston said she initially considered running for the state legislature before deciding to seek the governor's office, according to her campaign website. She is a first-time candidate.

Candidate information

  • Party: Independent
  • Residence: Columbia, Tennessee
  • Education: Bachelor's in elementary education, Freed-Hardeman University (2009); master's certificate in institute on family and neighborhood life, Clemson University (2015); Ph.D. in international family and community studies, Clemson University (2019)
  • Family: Married, four children
  • Hometown: Grew up in Selmer (McNairy County), graduating from McNairy County High School in 2005. Pinkston has described herself as a seventh-generation Tennessean whose earliest years were spent in Stantonville.

Experience and public service

Pinkston said she spent 15 years addressing human trafficking and creating economic opportunities abroad. She said she helped launch three businesses in Southeast Asia to employ survivors of human trafficking and religious persecution.

Her professional background, as listed on her campaign website and BallotReady profile data, includes:

  • Research assistant, USC Center for Adolescent Research in Schools (2012–2013)
  • Social enterprise development consultant (2014–2020)
  • Doctoral research intern, UN Office on Drugs and Crime anti-trafficking project in Vientiane, Laos (2015)
  • Co-owner, Wearthy LLC (2016–2020)
  • Adjunct professor, Lipscomb University College of Business (2019)
  • Assistant professor of business as mission, Lipscomb University College of Business (2020–2023)
  • President, Kindred Exchange (2020–2024)
  • Research affiliate and board member, Freedom Business Alliance (2020)

Pinkston and her family moved back to Columbia in 2019 after years living in Southeast Asia and Africa, she said.

On the issues

The following positions are drawn from Pinkston's campaign website, her responses compiled by BallotReady, and reporting by Tennessee Lookout. All statements reflect the candidate's own claims.

Education: Pinkston said she would increase teacher salaries while reducing administrative burdens. She said she supports reducing benchmark testing, diversifying public school models in rural counties, and licensing adjunct instructors for high school career courses. She also said she supports legislation restricting smartphones before high school and social media before age 16, citing research by Jonathan Haidt.

Infrastructure and transportation: Pinkston said she would address what she called an over $82 billion backlog in road repairs by pursuing federal infrastructure funding. She said Tennessee taxpayers should not subsidize roads to new subdivisions built by out-of-state developers. She said she supports exploring a statewide passenger rail system connecting Memphis to Bristol and Nashville to Chattanooga.

Energy and environment: Pinkston said she supports expanding Tennessee's nuclear energy capacity, including small modular reactors, and protecting the Tennessee Valley Authority from privatization. She said she would issue a statewide moratorium on AI data centers until regulations are in place.

Criminal justice and public safety: Pinkston said she would conduct a full assessment of Tennessee's prison system and reduce the incarcerated population by 15% in her first term. She said she would expand mental health services and trauma-informed training for law enforcement. She said legislation forcing all local law enforcement to join ICE's 287(g) program would make communities less safe.

Firearms: Pinkston said sportsmanship and self-defense must remain constitutionally protected. She also said she supports safe firearm storage requirements in vehicles, closing the background-check loophole for private sales and gun shows, and creating a legal pathway to transfer gun possession from someone who presents an imminent risk.

Endorsements

Pinkston has been endorsed by The Tennessee Report, according to BallotReady profile data.

Other candidates

Other candidates certified for the race include Marsha Blackburn (Republican), Jerri Green (Democratic), Charles Van Morgan, Dave Seeman, David Hatley, Dean Brewer, Eddie Lee Murphy, Karl Knox Smithson, L. Webb Taylor, Misam Abidi, Ray Brown, Robert C. Vick, Victor L. Scoggin and Wendell Jackson, all independents.

Candidate responses were collected through BallotReady and the candidate's campaign website. The Brentwood-Nolensville Record did not interview the candidate for this profile.