Barber Ronnie Etchison, left, and patron Vincent McKenzie listen as Andre McGary talks with patrons at Cut Creators Barbershop.AT A GLANCE* Name: Andraé McGary* Age: 33* Family: Married to Cheryl with five children* Education: Bachelor’s degree from Carver Bible College; master’s of divinity from Covenant Theological Seminary* Employment: Chattanooga city councilman* One big idea: “Technology-based and medical research jobs are the wave of the future. With the fastest Internet in America here in Tennessee, we must focus on how best to utilize this valued asset to attract the jobs of tomorrow.”
Andraé McGary was elected to City Council at 29. In the three years since, he has publicly pondered running for Congress and Chattanooga mayor. Now he’s the Democratic nominee for a pivotal state Senate seat.
But to hear the father of five tell it, he’s an introvert who hates fundraising, dreads glad-handing, could live without the game. Above all, the councilman wants voters to know something: “I’m not a politician.”
“I’m so over this race,” he said with a glazed look over the wheel of his 2009 Chrysler sedan. “I don’t get my energy from people. I get my energy from helping people.”
It’s the key dichotomy in the life of McGary, a 33-year-old transplant from Texas who has quit two jobs in the interest of maintaining or winning public office. Since moving to Chattanooga in 2005, he has worked as a marketing consultant, homeless coalition staffer, art consultant, church youth director and talk radio personality – none for very long.