City council runoff election
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.For more information, contact the Hamilton County Election Office at 423-493-5100 or visit the website at elect.hamiltontn.gov.
Chattanooga voters in districts 7 and 9 have one more chance to decide who will represent them on the city council Tuesday - runoff election day.
Incumbent Yusuf Hakeem faces challenger Demetrus Coonrod in District 9, which includes the precincts of Eastdale, East Chattanooga, Glenwood, Missionary Ridge and Ridgedale.
In District 7, incumbent Chris Anderson is battling Erskine Oglesby. The district 7 encompasses the precincts of Alton Park, Downtown, East Lake and St. Elmo.
Anderson and Hakeem received the most votes in their respective races in the March 7 election, but neither achieved the required majority to win outright, forcing them into runoffs with the runners- up: Oglesby and Coonrod.
By the time early voting ended April 6, voters had cast 782 early ballots, including 84 mail-in ballots, in the two races. Turnout averaged 50 ballots a day until the last four days, when the average shot up to 71 votes. The uptick in turnout coincided with sometimes-heated campaign messaging and exchanges between the candidates and other public figures.
"Throughout this race my opponent has publicly, carelessly, and repeatedly made irresponsible and counter-productive statements about me and my supporters," Hakeem said in a recent statement. "For some this may be politics as usual, but I believe it indicates my opponent's troubling disinterest in forging the crucial alliances that will be necessary to tackle the issues most important to District 9."
On April 2, Hakeem referred to Coonrod as "unhinged, a pathological liar and crazy" during a WDEF radio program. On the same day, she fired back that Hakeem was the unhinged one during an Eastdale forum Hakeem did not attend.
"Marginalizing women is not the norm and should never be tolerated in Chattanooga or anywhere," Coonrod said in a statement, alleging Hakeem's actions were a "clear indication" of desperation and urging voters to focus on the community's issues.
Local Nation of Islam leader Kevin Muhammad weighed in on the situation, calling on Hakeem to apologize - something which he has yet to do.
So far, District 9 has generated 433 votes, compared to the 2,037 votes cast in the March 7 election.
The Eastdale precinct, with 153 ballots, has received the most early votes, just like it did in the general election. Although Coonrod did not win Eastdale - or any other precinct - in the general election, it is where she ran the closest race against Hakeem, earning 305 votes to his 363.
Glenwood, where Hakeem beat Coonrod by a nearly 2-1 margin, has 97 early votes. The two East Chattanooga precincts, combined, have received 100 early votes.
Missionary Ridge and the Ridgedale precincts have mustered fewer than 100 ballots combined during the runoff early voting period. If the District 9 race only counted those precincts, candidate John Kerns would have won the election in March.
Last weekend, District 7 residents received an Anderson campaign mailer alleging Oglesby was "propped up" by tea party Republican mayoral hopeful Larry Grohn and run by "Republican operatives."
Grohn quickly issued a statement demanding an apology from Anderson and said he had not contributed to "nor supported Mr. Oglesby's campaign in any way." He described the mailer as a "desperate attempt to win re-election."
Election campaign disclosures for Oglesby do not show any monetary contributions from Grohn. Contributors must be named if they give $100 or more.
Anderson later contended "any reasonable person" would conclude Grohn's appearance at an Oglesby fundraiser would indicate his support for his opponent.
Oglesby is a client of Hill City Strategies, owned by political consultant Dalton Temple. Temple, who said he voted in the 2017 Hamilton County Republican Party reorganization and served as the former vice president of the county party's Pachyderm Club, also worked for Grohn.
Temple said he serves "both sides of the aisle."
Oglesby describes himself as a "lifelong Democrat" and called Anderson's accusations ridiculous and unfortunate. Unlike Grohn, he did not make a public outcry over the mailer.
"I want to remain focused on the four pillars of my campaign, which are economic development, community revitalization, programs for youth and families, and community policing," Oglesby said. "I want to see all parts of District 7 enjoy the prosperity that has already come to some parts of the district."
The Anderson mailer pointed out Oglesby took money from a payday lender political action committee, but Oglesby brushed aside any implication he was in the back pocket of payday lenders, who gave him $150. Oglesby's campaign had raised $14,250 as of Feb. 28.
He did question how developer and union money might affect Anderson's decision-making as a councilman.
Between mid- January and Feb. 28, Anderson raised $6,000 from unions, amounting to more than one-quarter of his $23,735 take for the period. He got $1,000 apiece from developers Ken DeFoor and John Hetzler. In the fall, when Anderson raised $27,620, the Homebuilders Association of Greater Chattanooga gave him $4,000.
Oglesby received $500 from the Tennessee Realtors PAC.
Anderson said money he has received from developers and other contributors reflect their support for the district's progress in the last four years. The same goes for money given by workers, whom he is proud to represent, he said.
Early voters cast 349 ballots in District 7's runoff election. The March 7 election brought in 1,701 votes.
In the earlier election, Oglesby took the Alton Park precincts by a 3-2 margin over Anderson; Anderson edged out Oglesby by a similar margin in the downtown precincts. Alton Park voters have cast 112 early ballots and downtown voters have cast 125 early ballots.
St. Elmo voters, where Anderson led Oglesby by 2-1 in March, cast 75 ballots in early voting.
East Lake, which split pretty evenly between Anderson, Oglesby and Manny Rico, has generated 37 votes.
Rico, whom Anderson unseated in 2013, said he urged his supporters to vote for Oglesby even before the polls closed March 7.
Both Anderson and Oglesby said they are great believers in the campaign ground game.
"We've been knocking on doors and making the phone calls since the day after election day," Anderson said in an email. "People have been extremely gracious, especially since this is usually the third or fourth time we've spoken with them."
Oglesby said he likes to do it "old school" and talk to residents face to face. Early voting is key, he said, voicing concerns over how bad weather could drown out election day turnout.
Chattanooga's runoff elections traditionally draw smaller voter turnouts than the city's general election.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleach_tfp.