[SAZ] Keeda Haynes believes she brings a singular perspective to the race for Tennessee’s fifth Congressional District. After spending over three years in jail for against the law she says she did not commit, she hopes a spot in Washington will enable her to talk for susceptible constituents — and make just a little historical past as properly.
Haynes, a former public defender, is in a three-way race that features 17-year Democratic incumbent Rep. Jim Cooper.
The first election, which is slated for Aug. 6, has no Republican within the race so the winner will virtually definitely be elected to Congress come November.
"I’ve a singular perspective that lots of people do not have. ... I have been a defendant and defender," Haynes instructed ABC Information. "I actually noticed simply how this warfare on medicine actually decimated Black and brown, low-income communities."
If elected, the progressive Democrat would make historical past as the primary Black lady in Tennessee ever elected to Congress. The state has solely had two Black representatives elected to Congress, with the final candidate elected over 20 years in the past, according to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Together with supporting felony justice reform and the Black Lives Matter motion, the 42-year-old Haynes can also be enthusiastic about points equivalent to offering entry to inexpensive housing, elevating the minimal wage and lowering scholar mortgage debt.
"We’re reimagining every system in order that Black lives can matter throughout each single spectrum," she mentioned. 
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