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Cooper: Mayor’s race likely heading for only third runoff since WWII

Staff File Photo By Erin O. Smith / Former Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, right, was the last mayor elected in a runoff and only the second since World War II.
Staff File Photo By Erin O. Smith / Former Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, right, was the last mayor elected in a runoff and only the second since World War II. Staff File Photo By Erin O. Smith / Former Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, right, was the last mayor elected in a runoff and only the second since World War II.

By Clint Cooper 4 min read

All indications are that Tuesday’s Chattanooga mayoral election will wind up in an April runoff.

That’s only happened twice since World War II, in 1975 and 2005, and we think both races offer examples of the intrigue that can shape the eventual winner in the race.

Polls show businessman Tim Kelly and former River City CEO Kim White leading this year’s 15-person contest, with former Unum executive Wade Hinton and businessman/entrepreneur Monty Bruell having outside shots of earning a spot in the runoff.

Both the 1975 and 2005 races had strong third candidates, which prevented leading vote-getters Charles A. “Pat” Rose and Ann Coulter, respectively, from winning their races outright.

This year, not only are there three candidates who polls say have more than 12.2% of the vote, but at least four others – Bruell, Councilmen Russell Gilbert and Erskine Oglesby, and former local NAACP President Elnora Woods – have considerable constituencies.