MURFREESBORO, TENN (WGNS) - Murfreesboro native and Middle Tennessee State University graduate Ashley Benkarski has announced her run to represent Rutherford County's District 21 residents. 

 

“I was born here, in the old MTMC building on Bell St., and so was my daughter. I worked as a pizza delivery driver here for over a decade,” said Benkarski, a community organizer and former freelance journalist. “Murfreesboro is my home. But it's becoming too expensive to live here, and the focus seems to be always on profits and not on the people.”

 

A recent study conducted by Middle Tennessee State University's Consumer Research Institute at the Jones College of Business found that, as of September 1st, 2025, the median price of a home in Middle Tennessee is higher than that of the rest of the country. The area also has the highest mortgage payments and rent levels within the state.

 

However, wages aren't keeping up with the cost of living, with District 21 workers earning less than $30,000 per capita annually.

Benkarski said their campaign is focused on “the three A's”: affordability, accessibility, and accountability:

 

• Affordability: Rutherford County’s growth has made a few people very wealthy while leaving 1 in 5 District 21 residents in poverty. Current residents shouldn't see their property taxes rise to pay for roads and sewers that luxury developers require. Ashley supports maxing out development impact fees so that corporate growth, not your family's grocery budget, pays for growth.
• Accessibility: Accessibility means the county website shouldn't look like it’s from 2005. We need mobile-friendly portals for permits and public services, and we need materials translated into the languages our neighbors actually speak.
• Accountability: Benkarski will advocate for a joint transparency task force to ensure that when the city and county trade land or tax credits, the public isn't the one getting the raw deal.

 

“My neighbors aren't seeing the promises of prosperity under unfettered growth our leaders have boasted about, but they're feeling its consequences,” said Benkarski. “When we organize for affordability, accessibility, and accountability, we aren't just asking for a better county—we’re building one.”

 

Benkarski hopes to knock on every door in District 21. “People are telling me I'm the first candidate for any office that has knocked on their door, and I find that devastating. There's a lot of work to be done to build trust in our community.”

 

Benkarski's experience as a community organizer has helped prepare her for the task. Much of her job is to help people find shared interests among themselves, rather than point fingers at each other. When that happens, she said, people become a part of something greater than themselves and real change occurs.

 

“We need more working class people in the rooms where decisions are made,” said Benkarski. “I realized I currently have the privilege that many of my fellows in the working class don't have in terms of time and resources. I'm not struggling to pay rent any longer, I'm not worried where my kid's next meal is coming from. But so many are. And in the richest country in the world, in a state that has a multimillion dollar budget surplus, that's inexcusable.”