Nashville, TN (TN Tribune)–Greeneville minister Dr. Casey Nicholson has is running for governor of Tennessee. Nicholson is an ordained Cumberland Presbyterian minister who lives and works in his hometown of Greeneville. He was ordained in 2005, and served churches in Mississippi and East Tennessee before starting a counseling practice in 2017.
Nicholson grew up in northeast Tennessee, but lived in Memphis for three years while attending seminary in his twenties. As a Ninth Generation Tennessean who drove back and forth from Memphis to the Tri-Cities often, Nicholson developed a love for all things Tennessee. He has preached in churches all across the state in towns like Talbott, Farragut, Waverly, Selmer, Trenton, and Arlington. He has visited every corner of the state, from standing by the dam at Hurricane Mills to standing between the cannons atop Lookout Mountain; from hiking to waterfalls along the Natchez Trace Parkway to walking to the overlook atop Cumberland Gap National Park; and from Thursday night football at UT-Martin to Saturday evening concerts in The Caverns at Pelham. Nicholson ‘s story is the story of a man with a deep love for the State of Tennessee, and now Nicholson is stepping forward to do what he can to help the place he loves so much.
Nicholson has been involved in politics over the years, having been the Democratic nominee for 5th-District State Representative in 2008, as well as Chair of the Greene County Democratic Party from 2017-2019. He also served as district representative for the 1st Congressional District to the Tennessee Democratic County Chairs Association from 2017-2019. He is also a co-founder of Indivisible Greene County, a group of concerned citizens that has worked to bring attention to a variety of social issues and current events in northeast Tennessee.
Nicholson, 43, holds undergraduate degrees from Walters State Community College and East Tennessee State University, as well as graduate degrees from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Memphis Theological Seminary. His doctorate is in pastoral counseling.