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"My first foray into anything political was volunteering with Moms Demand Action, and I had two littles at home, so I ran their social media pages. That's what I could do," Green told the Herald-Citizen from Father Tom's Pub, where approximately 80 people gathered to hear her speak. "Eventually I went and lobbied at the state capitol, and it just kind of grew from there. That was my first entry point — we can't allow children to be murdered in their classroom."

Green, 47, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and political science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville before obtaining her Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University School of Law in Washington, D.C.

"I started my career as a public defender ... being so close to people at probably their lowest moment, and a lot of people are struggling with a lot of different issues, mental health issues, financial issues, you name it, really helped expand what I knew about in my life," she said. 

"Being, I think, in local government, there's nothing like it to prepare you to go on and do anything else," Green said. "A lot of people say to me, 'You're on city council. How can you jump to governor?' Well, I've been in county government for six years, as, like, the right hand to my mayor, and I have been on the city council, so I have both executive and legislative experience, and that's more experience than the current governor had or the current president, so I feel pretty prepared.

"And of course, I am a Georgetown-trained lawyer, and I like to say that our state passes more lawsuits than laws, so it might be nice to have someone in office who actually understands the law and the Constitution," Green said.

A Democrat, Green acknowledged the uphill battle she faces by relaying the Biblical story of David and Goliath. Tennesseans haven't elected a Democrat as governor since they voted to give Phil Bredesen a second term in 2006. 

"I think that what people are seeing and feeling in their everyday lives, whether it is affordability, whether it is being able to buy a house and a home to start a family, whether it's being able to afford childcare once they have a family," Green said. "Pain points are everywhere, and at the same time, they see on the federal level, a president who's building a golden ballroom. They see just constant chaos, and people are really fearful for what this means for our democracy in general, so I think maybe the pendulum is starting to swing back on its own, and we saw that from Tuesday's elections. Truly, I think for Tennesseans to move back more toward the middle, it's just about their day-to-day lives."

Green told Sunday's crowd, "I'm going to end the voucher scheme, day one. We're going to put that money back into our public schools, back into our classrooms, back into our teachers' hands so that they can make a difference."

As governor, Green said she planned to set up a "Teach Every Child" scholarship for teachers who want to become special education teachers.

"The second thing I'm going to do is I'm going to take the Medicaid expansion money, and we're going to make healthcare more affordable and more accessible in Tennessee," she said. "No longer are we going to send money to D.C. for no reason. It's our money. We're watching rural hospitals close. We're watching rural communities collapse around it. We're watching women die because they can't get the care they need. That's unacceptable. We're ending it."

More than a dozen hospitals in Tennessee have closed since 2010.

Green said the third thing she plans to do as governor is to repeal the grocery tax and put the tax back on corporations.

"Right now in the state of Tennessee, the average taxpayers like you and me, we pay about 10% of our income in taxes," she said. "You know what the top 1% pays? 3.8%. Make that make sense. 

"It's all wrong, and you know how they're doing it? They're trying to distract us with issues that focus on a different 1%," she said. "Raise your hand right now if you have ever been worried about your child losing their swimming medals to a transgender athlete. Not one, OK."

But nearly the whole room raised their hands when Green asked if they're worried about the cost of groceries and medical bills. 

Green's Cookeville visit was the final stop of a five-city weekend tour that began Friday in Memphis and continued with stops in Brownsville, McMinnville and Chattanooga.

Green and her husband, Patrick, have three children, Beau, 15, Vivienne, 14, and Wilder, 8. To learn more, visit .

Tennesseans will elect a new governor Nov. 3, 2026. Candidates can pick up petitions beginning Jan. 9, and the qualifying deadline is noon, March 10, 2026.