Incumbents line up for county elections

Only one challenger had picked up paperwork as of Monday afternoon to run in next year’s Hamilton County elections, according to the Hamilton County Election Commission.

Richard Rankin, 42, who also picked up papers to run for mayor of Chattanooga this year, picked up papers Monday to run for Hamilton County mayor.

“I just want to be able to try to provide services for families that are also in need,” Mr. Rankin said.

Friday was the first day hopefuls could pick up paperwork to run in the May 4 county primary. The petitions are due Feb. 18.

County Mayor Claude Ramsey has yet to pick up his re-election paperwork and has not announced a re-election bid, but he said in July that he would “like to continue working for this community a little while longer.”

Other potential challengers to sitting county officials likely are waiting a little while to decide whether to jump in, said Dr. Bob Swansbrough, political science professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

“They maybe want to see a little bit better the lay of the land,” he said.

Of the nine county commissioners, five already have obtained petitions to run for re-election.

No one has yet picked up petitions for the open seat being vacated by Commission Chairman Curtis Adams, though county school board member Kenny Smith and former Chattanooga City Councilwoman Marti Rutherford have hinted that they are interested.

The only remaining sitting commissioners who have not yet obtained petitions are John Allen Brooks, who already has held a campaign kickoff event, and Bill Hullander.

Mr. Hullander said he had not yet had a chance to go by the Election Commission to pick up his papers. He said he didn’t plan to start looking at anything campaign-related until after the holidays.