Mike Croley

Democratic Candidate

Why I’m Running

I’m running because working families in Tennessee’s 6th District are getting steamrolled while billionaires buy policies behind closed doors, all while our schools are underfunded, our healthcare system is broken, and our rights are being auctioned off one vote at a time.

I’m not a career politician. I’m not backed by corporate donors or political machines. I’m running this campaign the only way I know how: with transparency, honesty, and a promise to show up for the little guy.

We need representation that listens, not lectures. That serves, not sells out. I’m not running to represent one side of the aisle. I’m running to represent every person in this district who’s been ignored, written off, or told to wait their turn.

My Story

I grew up in Illinois and Kentucky, enlisting in the Navy after graduating from Ohio County High School in Hartford, KY. While in boot camp, I was selected for meritorious advancement, and upon completion I served as an Electronics Technician on the east coast. While serving, I was awarded an NROTC scholarship, which made it possible for me to earn a degree in civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University. I was commissioned by the Navy upon graduation in 2005.

I fell in love with Tennessee while at Vanderbilt, so after completing my service in the Navy, I returned to the state, becoming an efficiency engineer with the TVA EnergyRight program. My job was to help people and businesses lower their utility bills by using energy more efficiently. This was the first chapter in my career in public service

I then joined the Tennessee State Park Rangers, attending the Tennessee Law Enforcement Academy in 2016. I saw up close and personal how Tennessee’s parks give people a place to breathe deeply, reflect and find peace. As a Ranger, I saw folks from all walks of life find something they need in the woods and fields of Tennessee. Tennessee’s state parks are one of the greatest triumphs of legislative effort to improve our quality of life.

My wife, Bethany, and I have been married since 2009, and we are raising three young kids here at home. She works in our local school system, which keeps us closely connected to the challenges facing students and educators. I also have an adult son, Austin, who lives in the district.

From 2015 to 2021, while serving as a Tennessee State Park Ranger, I was raising our family and earning my master’s degree in public safety from Tennessee Tech in Cookeville.This isn’t abstract for me. The choices made in Washington shape my family’s
future, just like they shape yours. I’m running to make sure working families in Tennessee’s 6th District have someone who understands those pressures and fights for them.

After attending TTU, I was awarded a Presidential Management Fellowship, which allowed me to continue working in public service. This program saw me working in the U.S. Departments of State and Agriculture, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Through my years in public service, as a park ranger, a federal employee, and a husband to a public school worker, I’ve seen both the best and the worst of how government works. I know it can be more efficient, more accountable, and more responsive to the people it serves.

Our government should not exist to benefit a powerful few. It should exist to serve families like mine and yours. That belief, shaped by my own story and my roots here in Tennessee’s 6th District, is why I’m running for Congress.

Croley for Congress FAQ

Throughout the primary campaign, constituents of Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District have asked a myriad of questions. Here are many of those questions and answers in an easy-to-view format. Several individual questions have been grouped into broader themes for anyone who may have similar questions.

Mike is a husband, a father, a Navy veteran, an engineer, a former Tennessee State Park Ranger, and a former federal public servant. His public service experience includes work connected to the U.S. Department of State and NOAA. He earned degrees from both Vanderbilt University and Tennessee Technological University.

Mike’s own experience losing a federal position at NOAA during the DOGE fiasco, and receiving little meaningful help from John Rose, the TN-6 Congressman, fueled his desire to run for office and bring a representative to Congress who listens, shows up, and helps. He is running on a platform of Affordability, Accountability, and Accessibility.

Mike brings experience in military leadership, engineering, law enforcement, land stewardship, federal program work, and directly navigating government agencies. Mike is a problem solver and will bring that experience to helping the people of Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District.

Mike is running on a AAA Blueprint organized around Affordability, Accountability, and
Accessibility. Mike intends to work to lower the cost of everyday life, make healthcare, voting, and veterans
services easier to access, and require transparency and accountability from public officials, agencies, and corporations.

Not at all. Mike fully believes that a representative should serve the entire district. He has stated numerous times that it should be people over party, and he does not believe a representative should cater only to a political party, donor class, or political entity.

Mike has repeatedly discussed these issues during town halls, Facebook Lives, and individual conversations. Mike believes in ending broad tariffs, reversing federal cuts to programs that families depend on, requiring the wealthy to pay a fair share, expanding affordable housing, and strengthening labor standards, for starters.

Mike supports building quality, affordable housing and limiting corporations from buying large numbers of family homes.

Mike supports fair wages, strong labor standards, and making it easier for workers to unionize.
Mike also supports raising the minimum wage to a fair wage.

Mike supports rural infrastructure, skilled trades, and protecting Tennessee’s land and parks.

One of the larger tenets of Mike’s platform surrounds healthcare. He believe  affordable healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. He prioritizes expanding access, protecting coverage, and holding insurance companies accountable for claim denials that can drastically affect individuals and families.

Mike supports extending the Affordable Care Act and opposes cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.

Regarding rural medical care, he emphasizes accessibility in rural areas, stability, and emergency access. His platform also supports increasing access to women’s reproductive healthcare.

Mike supports protecting Social Security and opposes cuts to earned benefits. He also supports removing the Social Security payroll tax cap so that higher earners contribute on all of their wages, strengthening the program for current and future generations.

As a Navy veteran who has navigated the VA system, Mike opposes funding cuts that have drastically lengthened wait times and weakened physical and mental health resources for
veterans.

Regarding his position on firearms, Mike is a former park ranger and handgun owner and is not proposing firearm confiscation. While supporting Second Amendment rights, he also supports safeguards around gun ownership.

Croley supports the federal legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana, including age limits and product testing. He believes the revenue should be directed toward schools, infrastructure, rural development, treatment, veterans services, and local government, among other priorities.

Mike supports increasing school funding, doing away with the voucher program, increasing teacher pay, and protecting students with disabilities.

Mike believes in making voting more accessible, protecting voting rights, and expanding participation. In addition, he supports uncapping the House of Representatives so that additional representatives can be added and representation can more closely address the needs of individual communities.

Mike supports protecting the rights and safety of all citizens and has been actively supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Environmental protection is one of Mike’s priorities. His background in engineering, his experience as a park ranger, and his work with NOAA give him firsthand experience with environmental issues. He views climate change as a threat to food, water, energy security, public safety, and rural economies.

He opposes funding cuts to the National Park Service and advocates for parks to remain safe and open.

He opposes placing the proposed Class I landfill near Bear Creek and the Big South Fork watershed.

Mike supports banning members of Congress from trading individual stocks and moving directly into lobbying, strengthening campaign-finance laws, overturning Citizens United, establishing congressional term limits, increasing transparency, and strengthening anti- corruption enforcement.

He believes effective representatives must build coalitions, know when to negotiate, and remember that disagreement does not prevent cooperation.

Croley emphasizes town halls, listening sessions, and constituent service. His standard is to show up throughout the district, listen, and remain reachable after the election.

As a veteran, Mike has discussed balancing the human and fiscal costs of military action, respecting service members and their families, avoiding unnecessary escalation, and considering overseas spending alongside unmet needs here at home.
Mike has discussed ICE numerous times during town halls and has expressed disdain for abusive or unaccountable federal enforcement. He supports reducing DHS and ICE funding to force reforms.

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