Teris Swanson for Livingston County Judge Executive

09/03/2026

Happy Birthday, America! (Again! 😃)

On this day in 1777, the Stars and Stripes is said to have flown in battle for the first time. Historians still argue about whether it actually happened there or somewhere else, but the point remains that a symbol of something new and exciting was raised in the middle of a fight nobody was sure they'd win.

Six years later, to the day, the Treaty of Paris was signed. The war was done, but a different battle lay ahead: it was paperwork, negotiation, and the slow, unglamorous work of figuring out how a country actually runs.

That's usually how it goes. The dramatic moment is what gets remembered. But the planning, the follow-through, the people doing the quiet work nobody's writing songs about — that's what actually determines whether the thing survives.

Same is true for a county. Nobody remembers the budget meeting. Nobody writes songs about day-to-day management. But it's the reason the roads get fixed and the checks don't bounce.

08/29/2026

Thank you to Metal Madness for their generosity in supporting Happy Feet and FRYSC to help raise a lot of money to buy shoes for kids in our county!! It was a great afternoon!

Please support our local businesses who do so much for our county.

08/27/2026

When I first announced the KY 453 S-curves redesign project in 2024, there was understandably some skepticism about whether a state highway project of this size could move forward so quickly. I definitely was accused of making it up to gain votes—something I would never do!!

Today, I’m proud to see that the project I began working to make a reality is moving ahead.

This was an issue I chose to pursue because I believed it needed to be addressed. That stretch of KY 453 has taken too many lives, and the steady traffic of large trucks makes those narrow, tight curves even more concerning.

Of course, in a perfect world, everyone would slow down and drive responsibly. But road safety isn’t just about the person who chooses to speed or drive carelessly. It’s also about the family doing everything right who happens to meet someone who isn’t.

That is what made this project important to me from the beginning. It wasn’t about politics or getting credit. It was about recognizing a problem, pushing for a solution, and making our roads safer for the people who travel them every day.

I’m grateful to everyone at the state level who has helped move the project from an idea I began advocating for in 2024 toward reality, and I’m very proud to see that work continuing.

Ultimately, this is about making sure more of our kids and grandkids make it home safely. That was the goal when I started working on it, and that remains the goal today.

I know there are some concerns about the aesthetics of the area, but saving lives is more important than that. If I am elected, I will work directly with the state to make sure that the area remains as beautiful as ever!

I tried to locate and reshare the original post, but it appears that the previous Fiscal Court page no longer exists. Here’s the original video posted sometime in October 2024.

08/25/2026

Resharing this post from a little while back because I believe it is so incredibly important. Deals done in secret are the antithesis of a just democracy.

My commitment: true transparency.

Taxpayer dollars and darkness do not mix.

The Kentucky Supreme Court recently ruled that records held on privately-owned devices and accounts are not subject to the Kentucky Open Records Act. This swings the door wide open for back door deals and secret corruption. Officials may now start using their private devices to keep things secret from you, the taxpayer.

I can’t overstate how dangerous this is.

I don’t necessarily blame the Supreme Court, they are just interpreting the law as they believe the General Assembly intended. However, it’s a scary thing nonetheless and I’m proud of our own Justice Shea Nickell for his dissent.

I pledge to communicate about official county business only on county-owned devices and accounts!

If you also want an open and honest government, then you as the voter need to call on all elected officials and candidates to pledge the same.

08/20/2026

I have received many requests for campaign signs in recent weeks, and I appreciate every single one of you who’s ready to plant a Teris sign in your yard. The enthusiasm is contagious and has really brightened my spirits!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we are going to be holding off a bit longer.

Last cycle, signs started going up way too early, in my opinion. I followed along thinking that if I didn’t, I might be at a disadvantage.

This time I’m sticking to the normal window. Most places have ordinances about when political signs can go up — usually somewhere in the 30-to-45-day window before an election — and even where it’s not written into law, it’s become the unspoken rule.

No one wants to look at campaign signs from August to November. Me included.

So here’s the plan: signs will start going out roughly 45-30 days before the election.

I will be ordering another round of t-shirts soon if anyone would like one.

In the meantime, if you want to show support, tell a neighbor, share a post, say a prayer, or just say hello next time you see me at the store. That does more for this campaign than a sign ever could.

08/08/2026

“ALL FOUND ALIVE!”

What an incredible day commemorating the 1926 Hudson Mine Rescue at Historic Fohs Hall in Marion!

I’m incredibly proud of my dad, Bo Moodie, who entertained and educated, sharing the story of the mine and the rescue. He has worked for years to bring back spar mining to our community. If you don’t know what fluorspar is, just head on up to the mineral museum and you can learn all about it and the rich history of it in our community.

Thank you to the Livingston County Historical Society, the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum, and all the sponsors and volunteers who made this event such a wonderful success. I was truly inspired by the story of the community coming together to save these men and the true miracle of God that they were all found alive!

If you weren’t able to attend, the Historical Society should have the video available on YouTube once it is edited. And WKMS will be airing their reporting on the event this coming Wednesday morning.

08/05/2026

One idea I’m really excited about is starting an annual Livingston County Local Voices Heard community meeting.

I’d love to get everyone together once a year to have an honest conversation about our county. We’d talk about what went well over the past year, what didn’t, where our budget stands, and what our priorities should be for the year ahead. I’d even like to create a community vision board so we can put our goals and ideas into one shared picture of where we’re headed.

Whether you have a concern, a suggestion, or just a dream for Livingston County, I want you to know your voice matters. When people feel heard, they become invested. And when we’re all invested, we’re no longer just living in the same county, we’re working together as a team to make it better.

It would also be a great time for everyone to learn and have a say in exactly where their tax dollars are being allocated for the upcoming year.

Kind of like a state of the county meeting, but instead of a politician trying to spin and manipulate, YOU get to be heard.

What would you put on the first Livingston County Vision Board?

08/04/2026

The other day, a scene from The Three Musketeers drifted into my mind. Maybe it was random. It probably wasn’t. Either way, I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.

Three musketeers stand alone, surrounded on every side by soldiers loyal to a man conspiring against his own king. Three against an army. No reinforcements. No grand strategy. Just the quiet resolve to stand for what is right, even when the cost appears certain. The air is heavy with inevitability. Death is within a sword’s reach.

But then…

One by one, scattered throughout the crowd, men cast off their cloaks. Beneath the dull fabric flashes the unmistakable blue of the Musketeers, uniforms they had been ordered to destroy. They had been there all along. Watching. Waiting. Ready.

All it took was three men willing to step forward first.

I get chills every time watching the sea of blue appear.

Courage has a way of spreading. It moves quietly at first, almost unnoticed, until one act of conviction gives another person permission to find their own. Someone has to be willing to stand when the outcome is uncertain, when the risk is real, when the crowd is still holding its breath. More often than not, that first step is the spark that lights a hundred more.

But communities are never changed by people hiding beneath cloaks.

They’re changed by the people who decide they’re done waiting for someone else to make the first move.

I know some people think I’m silly for running again. But here’s the thing — I’m willing to be one of the three who steps forward first, even when the end isn’t colored in hope. And I know most of you are just like me.

That courage will prove contagious here, too. That one by one, people who have been quietly waiting will step forward, throw off their own cloaks, and say, “I’m in.”

07/04/2026

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

It was a radical sentiment at the time. What a history we have!

That second sentence. Not "government exists to grow." Not "government exists to run things." Government exists to secure our rights and protect our freedoms.

That's what true freedom means to me: A government that spends carefully, tells you the truth, and self-limits the use of its own power. Call it naive if you want, but I think government should do exactly what the Declaration says it's supposed to do.

Happy Independence Day, Livingston County! Happy birthday, America!

LET FREEDOM RING!

06/14/2026

Let Old Glory fly high today and every day, with liberty and justice for all! 🇺🇸

Happy Flag Day!