NASHVILLE — Hamilton County Democrats will have no one on the Nov. 6 ballot opposing state House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga in the 26th Legislative District race.

Party Chairman Paul Smith said today that after Democratic nominee Larry Miller withdrew from the race on Aug. 24 to take a job in Texas, Democrats had 10 days to replace him.

“We talked to several people, but with such short notice and [name] recognition, we felt there was not enough time,” Smith said.

The party would have had to hold a caucus and due to “the shortness of time” in which they had to act, it was not practical, Smith said.

“We didn’t just want to put a name up there,” he said. “We’d been really careful with all of our candidates” and they have “very good qualifications.”

Earlier today, Hamilton County Election Commissioners met and gave final approval to the ballot county voters will see Nov. 6.

McCormick still has an opponent, independent W. Rodger Cooksey of Hixson.

Last month, Miller said he was taking a position at the University of Texas at Austin where he will be the director of the National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development.

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about Andy Sher...

Andy Sher is a Nashville-based staff writer covering Tennessee state government and politics for the Times Free Press. A Washington correspondent from 1999-2005 for the Times Free Press, Andy previously headed up state Capitol coverage for The Chattanooga Times, worked as a state Capitol reporter for The Nashville Banner and was a contributor to The Tennessee Journal, among other publications. Andy worked for 17 years at The Chattanooga Times covering police, health care, county government, ...