Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke rallies local Democrats at JFK Club

photo Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke speaks at The Chattanoogan hotel in this file photo.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke doesn't face an election of his own for a few years, but he found himself Monday rallying local Democrats. His message: Organize for 2018.

Berke was the featured speaker Monday at the JFK Club's weekly luncheon. He touted the city's upcoming 175th birthday, but much of the discussion revolved around the lackluster election results for Democrats statewide and nationwide in the Nov. 4 election.

Berke wasn't asking members to get on board for the 2017 mayoral race. He was calling on the party to get motivated so Democrats could have viable candidates for the next U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections.

Nationally, the GOP took a majority in the U.S. Senate, and in Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander all won re-election by large margins.

"It's really hard to win these elections if you don't have candidates," Berke said. "We should be building toward 2018. ... Organize at the local level to make sure that in 2017, there is somebody who wants to run for U.S. Senate and wants to run for governor."

The meeting started with an appeal from member Tresa McCallie. She was not pleased with the way Democratic candidates distanced themselves from President Barack Obama during the lead-up to Nov. 4.

"The Democratic Party seems to be doing this on a national level. I think this club, we should just bombard the National Democratic Convention and really have them re-evaluate how they do campaigns. If we are going to go down, I want to go down fighting," McCallie said.

More than anything, Berke said, the club needs to start looking for -- or making -- quality candidates.

"The way you get more candidates is some of the people in this room have got to run," Berke said.

Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lee agreed with Berke at the meeting and told party members they need to get active.

"We have to have manpower, people who are willing to get involved. We also have to have money. But if you don't have money, we need your time," Lee said.

Berke's first term ends in 2017. Campaign finance records filed in January show he has more than $330,000 in his war chest.

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.

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