Amid lobbying, a compromise candidate for Hamilton County mayor considered

LIVE COVERAGE OF NEXT VOTECommissioners are expected to vote on a new mayor at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Visit timesfreepress.com for live coverage of the meeting.FORUM MONDAYThe Tennessee Valley Republican Women will host a forum for the two leading candidates vying for the Hamilton County mayor's job.The forum will be Monday at 7 p.m. at Red Bank High School. Hamilton County Republican Party Chairwoman Delores Vinson said both County Commissioner Jim Coppinger and special assistant to the county mayor Mike Carter have agreed to attend.WPLZ-FM radio talk show host Jay "Jammer" Scott will moderate the forum. Questions or comments from the public can be e-mailed to jammer@953wplz.com or to Delores Vinson at dvinson90@aol.com.HOW THEY VOTEDHamilton County commissioners voted and deadlocked twice in votes Monday on who will replace County Mayor Claude Ramsey.For Jim Coppinger: Jim Fields, Joe Graham, Larry Henry and Fred SkillernFor Mike Carter: Chester Bankston, Greg Beck, Tim Boyd and Warren Mackey

Hamilton County Commission Chairman Fred Skillern said Wednesday he would consider a compromise candidate for mayor if commissioners cannot break a stalemate over who should replace Claude Ramsey.

But for that compromise to happen, Commissioner Jim Coppinger would have to withdraw his candidacy and vote with four other commissioners for a different person.

Coppinger said Wednesday that isn't going to happen.

"I have no intentions to withdraw my name," he said.

On Monday, commissioners deadlocked 4-4 between Coppinger and Mike Carter, special assistant to Ramsey and a former Hamilton County General Sessions Court judge.

Skillern said the compromise candidate, whom he thinks would be another elected official, would have to agree not to run again in 2012 when county voters will select a new mayor in an open election.

Skillern said he "could go with that in a heartbeat."

County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said it would be legal for Coppinger to withdraw his name and regroup with four other commissioners on a selection.

Carter dismissed Skillern's idea of a compromise candidate, calling it a "barbershop discussion."

"To tell the world we're going to take 18 to 20 months off because we can't make a decision. ... [The commission has] shown too much integrity and too much wisdom to cop out," Carter said.

Local Republican Party politics play a role in the discussion, according to Skillern and Connie Weathers, the former Hamilton County Republican Party chairwoman. Republicans hold a 7-2 majority on the commission. The two Democrats -- Warren Mackey and Greg Beck -- support Carter, who's a Republican.

Weathers and Skillern said the Coker family, long involved in the Republican party and headed by party vice chairman and former county commissioner Harold Coker, is pushing Carter.

Coker, the founder of Coker Tire Co., declined to comment.

Weathers said that she's heard whispers of a campaign for a caretaker candidate, but said she's unsure who is behind it.

Staff writer Cliff Hightower contributed to this story.

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