Kenneth E. Yager (born January 5, 1947) is an American politician currently serving as a Republican

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

in the

Tennessee General Assembly The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Tennessee Senate, Senate and a Tennessee House of Representa ...

. He represents Tennessee's 12th Senate district, which is made up of the counties of Campbell,

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, Fentress, Macon,

Morgan Morgan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Morgan – A Suitable Case for Treatment'', also called ''Morgan!'', a 1966 comedy film * ''Morgan'' (2012 film), an American drama * ''Morgan'' (2016 film), an American science fiction thriller * ...

, Overton, Pickett, Roane, and

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

. Yager is chairman of the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus.

Early life and education

Yager was born on January 5, 1947. He received a B.A. from the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee, United States. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outsi ...

in 1969, a M.S. from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1972, and a J.D. from the

University of Memphis The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

in 1977. Yager went on to work as a teacher in Harriman, serve as the Roane County Attorney, and serve as the Roane County Executive.

Political career

Yager defeated Becky Ruppe and Christopher Fenner to become the Tennessee State Senator for District 12, and he is currently serving his fifth term. Yager has served on multiple committees throughout his tenure in the Senate. He is a current member of the Commerce and Labor Committee; the Finance, Ways and Means Committee; and the Fiscal Review Committee. He is also chair of the

Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) is an intergovernmental body of state and local governments in the U.S. state of Tennessee that has the purpose of providing a forum for discussion and resolution of intergo ...

. Yager has been endorsed by both the

Faith and Freedom Coalition The Faith and Freedom Coalition (FFC) is a conservative political advocacy 501(c)(4) non-profit organization in the United States. Organization History The organization was founded and officially incorporated on 14 May 2009, by Christian Coal ...

, and the Tennessee State Employees Association.

Personal life

Yager is married to the former Malinda Raby of Oliver Springs; together they have two adult children. Yager and his wife currently reside in Kingston and attend the First Baptist Church in

Kingston, Tennessee Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Roane County, Tennessee, United States. This city is thirty-six miles southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. It had a population of 5,934 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 United States ce ...

. In 2019,

Roane State Community College Roane State logo Roane State Community College is a public community college in eastern Tennessee, with its main campus in Harriman in Roane County. It was authorized by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1969, along with two other community col ...

named a building on their campus after Yager. Yager was named 2023 'Man of the Year' by the Tennessee Men's Health Network. In 2024, Yager was photographed skydiving as to both "celebrate isone year of being cancer-free and to raise awareness for prostate cancer".https://pro.stateaffairs.com/tn/healthcare/yager-skydive-cancer "Tennessee senator leaps from plane to celebrate being cancer-free - State Affairs Pro".

References

External links

*
Tennessee State Legislature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yager, Ken Republican Party Tennessee state senators Heads of county government in Tennessee Living people 1947 births People from Kingston, Tennessee 21st-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly