farragutpress

Two candidates, two visions for Senate District 7

September 23, 2026 by Tammy Cheek

Incumbent Republican Dr. Richard Briggs of Knoxville and Democrat Bryan Langan of Karns will square off this November as both are seeking the District 7 state senate seat.

Briggs, a cardiothoracic surgeon, has served on the District 7 senate seat for 12 years. Prior to that, he was a Knox County Commissioner, representing District 5, which covers Farragut, for seven years, starting in 2008. He also is a retired U.S. Army colonel, having served as a trauma surgeon in Operation Desert Storm and later in Afghanistan and Iraq.

After 38 years of serving in active and reserve duty, Briggs said, “I

was looking for something else; and in January 2007, they had Black Wednesday, which was very disruptive.

“There were eight County Commissioners who had resigned from office because of term limits,” he explained. “I was in Leadership Knoxville at that time … and that’s when I, and several other people, decided to run,” he said.

After that, he shifted from county to state political service and now is running for re-election.

“In the last 12 years, there have been a lot of really good things that happened in the state of Tennessee,” he said. “It’s just a very exciting time to move from being good to being really great, and I want to continue to serve.

“We’ve moved from being one of the poorer states in the country to now we’re at least in the upper half,” Briggs said. “We’ve come a long way.

“We’re in one of the top five states that people want to move,” he said. “A lot of this has to do with our lower taxes, and it has to do with the job opportunities we have here.

“Even the young people are wanting to come here,” he said. “University of Tennessee has the highest enrollment it’s ever had. Our high school graduates are wanting to stay here, and we also have a lot of out-of-state students wanting to come here.”

And, “it appears right now we are on the threshold of moving from a better-than-average state to one of the top states … regarding the nuclear industry in Oak Ridge,” Briggs said.

As senator with a specialty in cardiac surgery, he can bring his medical insights to the role.

“If you look at some of the biggest challenges that the state has faced, really in the last 15, 16 years, it’s been the opioid crisis,” he observed. “I really think I have done a lot to close some of the pill mills that were open under the guise of being pain clinics.

“The second problem we have is medically related also,” Briggs said. “It’s the mental health crisis we’re having. “It’s not only having adequate beds; it’s also a crisis with our young people and our teenagers. Teenage suicide is at an all-time high … it’s just absolutely devastating to the families when that occurs, but I think that I’ve been able to bring a lot to the table.”

This is Langan’s second time running for the District 7 seat but would be his first time in office should he win.

“I initially had intended to try to help in other campaigns, but no one was challenging, so I decided to step up and challenge this time,” he said. “I don’t like where Tennessee is going.

“Our legislature is a government that is protecting corporations and not doing what I think it should do, which is protecting our people and our resources,” Langan added. “I understand companies need to make money, and profit is their motive, but do it the right way. Take care of our workers; take care of our resources.”

“I’ve been a blue collar worker for 30 years,” he said. Langan has managed kitchens in restaurants, worked during construction setup and testing of water treatment facilities and most recently he is a rough-in plumber for new house builds.

He said that experience has shown him “I really know the struggle Tennesseans are facing right now.

“I work with these people struggling day to day, paycheck to paycheck,” he said. “I talk to them. I’ve lived that struggle for a long time.

“So my two things are accountability and affordability,” Langan added.

If elected, “I want to see campaign finance reform … to get corporate and PAC money out of our politics,” he said. Doing away with those contributions “goes a long way in getting the legislators to answer to the people again.”

Langan said the crux of his campaign is to get the legislators to answer to the people of Tennessee.

Regarding affordability, he said legislators never voted to raise workers' pay but voted to raise their own pay.

“I would like to make it that we can’t raise our pay without raising the minimum wage,” he said. Lagan also would like to see the fuel tax and sales tax on groceries be removed and a right-to-privacy law enacted to ban Flock and other surveillance from the state.