{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"HANNAH ELIZABETH SPEAKS","chatgptsummary":"Hannah Elizabeth Speaks brings budget literacy from a finance degree and accounting career, plus policy judgment from serving on the county commission where she advocated for tax increases to fund first responders. Her background includes constituent relations as a parent of two students and experience hiring a superintendent by proposing salary adjustments. The biography does not indicate prior experience in state-mandated school board training or direct educational administration.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nHannah Elizabeth Speaks (also known publicly as Hannah Speaks Winegar and Hannah Winegar) is the Republican nominee for the Hawkins County Board of Education's District 4 seat and the incumbent, having first defeated Lamora \"Tecky\" Hicks for the seat in 2022 [3]. In the May 5, 2026 Republican primary she defeated Hicks again [1], 669 votes to 625 [8]; she is unopposed on the August 6, 2026 general-election ballot [2].\n\n## Background and education\nWinegar graduated from Volunteer High School in Church Hill in 2003 and earned a bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Tennessee [4].\n\n## Career\nShe works as an accountant serving more than 30 local small businesses and is president of Hawkins County Memorial Gardens [4].\n\n## Office history\nWinegar served one four-year term as Hawkins County Commissioner from District 4 before running for the school board [4][5]. She was elected to the District 4 school board seat in August 2022, defeating incumbent Lamora \"Tecky\" Hicks [3].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nOn the county commission, Winegar recommended a 15-cent property-tax increase and motioned to raise the county employee cost-of-living adjustment from 7% to 9%, arguing that adequately funding first responders was more important than a no-new-taxes pledge [5][6]. On the school board she proposed a roughly $4,000 annual increase to Director of Schools Matt Hixson's salary during his contract renewal [7]. Her stated school-board priorities include expanding Career and Technical Education programs so that students entering skilled trades are supported alongside those pursuing four-year college, and connecting CTE students with local internships through her professional network [4].\n\n## Family\nWinegar and her husband Bo Winegar, a teacher at Volunteer High School, have two children who attend Surgoinsville Elementary; the family attends Mt. Vernon Baptist Church [4].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [May and August primary races appear all set (Rogersville Review)](https://www.therogersvillereview.com/news/article_8547d5f1-b98e-4143-b546-0f101d6c342a.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-20\n[2] [Hawkins County sample ballot, August 6, 2026](https://hawkinscountytn.gov/pdfs/elections/sample_ballot.pdf) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-20\n[3] [DeWitte, Hicks, Winegar, Gorlova win in Hawkins races (Citizen Tribune)](https://www.citizentribune.com/news/local/dewitte-hicks-winegar-gorlova-win-in-hawkins-races/article_d5cd50ac-152e-11ed-b0ac-f394f390a02b.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[4] [Hannah Winegar for District 4 Board of Education (Rogersville Review)](https://www.therogersvillereview.com/community/article_ea4f229a-02f4-11ed-9b99-a36952784fc4.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[5] [Commission approves 15 cent property tax hike, 9 percent COLA (Rogersville Review)](https://www.therogersvillereview.com/multimedia/article_df1fcde2-0ceb-11ed-9e6c-2f568cdebfd0.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[6] ['We cannot be scared of a tax increase' (Rogersville Review)](https://www.therogersvillereview.com/community/article_8ed0b2b4-0842-11ed-bd40-23c3ba603a3b.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[7] [Hawkins education board approves new director of schools contract (Times News)](https://www.timesnews.net/news/hawkins-education-board-approves-new-director-of-schools-contract/article_39a7c1df-e074-49f7-a60d-5b2579dc4cde.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-18\n[8] [No excuses: Stewart wins primary, Linkous unseats DeWitte (Rogersville Review)](https://www.therogersvillereview.com/news/article_f3f7b9f3-e7c6-4839-9584-7f87024cae4a.html) \u2014 accessed 2026-07-20","firstname":"HANNAH","lastname":"SPEAKS","middlename":"ELIZABETH","suffix":null,"token":"qw1Hgrqz3j"},"token":"hannah_elizabeth_speaks"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"school_board","o.office":null,"office":"county_school_board_district_4","officedescription":"A school board member serves on the elected body that governs a public school district. The board sets district policy and budget priorities and hires and evaluates the superintendent, while leaving day-to-day management to the administration.","officequalities":"- Policy judgment for a public school district \u2014 setting direction while leaving day-to-day management to the superintendent.\n- Budget literacy for operating and capital budgets, in coordination with the county commission (which appropriates) and the state.\n- Ability to hire, evaluate, and when necessary replace the superintendent \u2014 the board's highest-stakes recurring decision.\n- Constituent relations with parents, teachers, principals, and community members.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required annual training through the Tennessee School Boards Association.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"School Board Member","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":{"retrieved_at":"2026-07-18","title":"Hawkins County, TN \u2014 August 6, 2026 Sample Ballot","url":"https://www.hawkinscountytn.gov/pdfs/elections/sample_ballot.pdf"},"title":"School Board Member District 4"}