Chester Bankston

Melinda Bone

Chester Bankston, first-term commissioner of the county's fastest growing district in its northeast corridor, has no primary opposition but will face Melinda Bone of Harrison in the August general election.

Bankston, who is retired as owner of CB Electric and from the Hamilton County Department of Education maintenance department, is a former member of the Hamilton County Board of Education and is chairman of the Commission's Roads, Waste, Energy, Transportation and Zoning Committee. In the past year or so, he has spoken out for a tough-on-crime judge for the Juvenile Court and stood with district residents against a 50-unit subdivision in Ooltewah and against the approval of whiskey distilleries in the county.

In the 2010 Republican primary, Bankston defeated Gary Neil and Richard Tornquist. He had no opposition in the August general election. On the Commission, he replaced Bill Hullander, who was elected county trustee.

Bone owns Edible Arrangements and the Chicken-w-Bones restaurant, both in Brainerd.