Six out of nine Chattanooga City Council districts will be contested in the March 7 city election.
Incumbents Carol Berz and Ken Smith, who represent Districts 6 and 3, respectively, face no challengers. Council newcomer Darrin Ledford runs an uncontested race for District 4, left vacant by Larry Grohn to pursue the Chattanooga mayor's seat. Eighteen contenders vie for the other six seats.
Crime and workforce development issues took front and center of many of the candidate campaigns, as did the need for road and sidewalk maintenance and improvements.
On the surface, this City Council election presents voters with circumstances similarly to the 2013 election, when two incumbents went unchallenged and two other incumbents did not seek re-election.
When that election was over, the five contested incumbents had lost their seats. Only Russell Gilbert of District 5 and Berz, both uncontested, returned.
While this election has four fewer candidates fighting over the contested seats than in 2013, more of those races have three or more contenders.
In 2013, one race had three candidates and three races had four candidates each.
This election, five contests have at least three contenders, but only District 9 has turned into a four-way race. Yusuf Hakeem, who has held a council seat longer than any other sitting council member, faces challengers Patrick Benson Jr., Demetrus Coonrod and John L. Kerns in that race.
Manny Rico, who lost the District 7 seat to Chris Anderson in 2013, has returned to take the seat. Rico is the only former council member to make a bid for a lost seat in this election. Anderson unseated Rico in a four-way contest last time; challenger Erskine Oglesby Jr. makes it a three-way battle this time.
A candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast - 50 percent plus one vote - to win an election. If no one receives a majority in a race, such as what happened twice in 2013, the matter will be decided by the top two vote-getters in a run-off election on April 11.
In 2013, Grohn and Hakeem unseated incumbents in run-off elections.
The new four-year city council and mayor terms begin April 17.
City council members earn an annual salary of $23,797, according to the city's human resources department. The body's chair and vice chair earn an extra $5,000 and $2,500 in annual compensation.
The city council elects its chair and vice chair each April.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleach_tfp.