Hamilton County mayoral hopefuls Jim Coppinger, left, and Mike Carter await their first question at a forum hosted by the Tennessee Valley Republican Women at the Red Bank High School gymnasium Monday night.During a forum Monday night in Red Bank there was agreement — and mutual admiration — between the two men battling for the votes of county commissioners to become Hamilton County’s next mayor.
But whether their lengthy answers in two hours of public questioning will change commissioners’ votes is unclear.
“I thought they both did real well,” Commissioner Larry Henry said of the two candidates — Mike Carter, special assistant to the county mayor, and County Commissioner Jim Coppinger. Henry, along with Chairman Fred Skillern both voted for Coppinger, and neither said they would change their vote.
Commissioner Jim Fields also supported Coppinger but said he would soak in what he’d heard at the forum before deciding whether he would change his vote to Carter.
Dozens of people crowded into the bleachers and sat in chairs at the high school gym for what likely will be the only public forum related to the county mayor’s search. Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey will step down Jan. 11 to join Gov.-elect Bill Haslam in Nashville, and commissioners have been deadlocked 4-4 between Carter and Coppinger. Because Coppinger is a candidate, he cannot vote.