Community organizer Luis Mata announces bid for state House in Rutherford County

Community organizer Luis Mata announced his candidacy on Wednesday for the Tennessee House of Representatives in District 49, which includes Smyrna and La Vergne in Rutherford County.

Mata is seeking the Democratic nomination in the hopes of challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Sparks, R-Smyrna, who has held the seat since 2010. If elected, Mata would become Tennessee’s youngest lawmaker, and the first Latino elected to state office.

“This moment demands bold candidates who are willing to fight for the change we deserve,” Mata said in a statement. “It is my firm belief that those closest to the issues should be closest to the solutions.”

According to his campaign website, Mata will work to advocate for immigrants and make Tennessee a welcoming place for all, invest more in public schools, advocate for policies to prevent gun violence, repeal the state's abortion ban, and expand Medicaid.

Mata most recently served as policy coordinator at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, where he worked to amplify immigrant voices and protect refugee rights at all levels of government. With TIRRC, he successfully advocated for passage of a new bipartisan workplace expansion law to remove barriers to specialty and trade licenses for about 10,000 immigrants in Tennessee, including DACA recipients and TPS holders.

“Together, we can build stronger communities where all families can comfortably afford to live in our neighborhoods, put food on the table, access quality care and public education, and are treated with dignity and respect,” Mata said. “I am committed to continuing my decade-long fight for justice and working tirelessly for all Tennesseans in District 49 and across our state."

Mata was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, and moved with his mother to Tennessee in the early 2000s. He is now a naturalized U.S. citizen. Mata holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, where he graduated in 2021. While there, he helped found Students for Migrant Justice, a student group working to build bridges between student immigrants and the local community.

Mata also previously served on the board of Fuerza Democrats Tennessee, a state political action committee that works to organize and mobilize Latinos across the state. Fuerza is led by Gabby Salinas, who has narrowly lost bids for both the State Senate and State House in recent years.

Mata is currently the only candidate in the Democratic primary. The qualifying deadline for the Aug. 1 primary is April 4.

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com. 

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee House District 49: Luis Mata announces Democratic bid