Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Hamilton County School Board President Tucker McClendon will run for Hamilton County Commission in 2022.Hamilton County School Board chair Tucker McClendon will run for Hamilton County Commission in 2022 in what will be the vacant District 8 seat.
McClendon, a 26-year-old East Ridge resident, made the announcement on Thursday. It came after Commissioner Tim Boyd, R-East Brainerd, announced earlier this month he would not seek re-election.
A Republican, McClendon is so far the only candidate who has filed paperwork to run for the seat, according to the Hamilton County Election Commission.
"I think my age, if anything, helps me make connections with people," McClendon said in a Thursday interview. "It helps me bring a unique perspective that a lot of elected bodies don't have."
(READ MORE: Tim Boyd will not seek re-election to Hamilton County Commission)
McClendon said he had never thought of running for the commission until Boyd announced he would not seek a fourth term.
If he were to take over the seat, he said, his main priority would be to address the $1 billion in deferred maintenance throughout the county's schools.
"I think one thing that we as a commission would have to look at is the facilities crisis throughout our school system," he said. "Looking at facilities and how we can do that through creative and out-of-the-box ways."
McClendon was first elected to the school board in 2018 at the age of 23, making him the youngest member in its history. He was unanimously selected as the board's chair this year, and he will not run for re-election in 2022, he said.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County Commission kills plan for 184 homes in Ooltewah)
During his tenure, he helped secure funding for the East Ridge Field House and more than $3 million in funding for renovations to East Ridge's middle and high schools.
McClendon currently serves as director of events and director of the In the Black program for the Millennial Debt Foundation in Chattanooga. He previously worked as the market manager for the Chattanooga Market for three years.
As for politics, at the age of 6, McClendon held signs and appeared in television commercials for former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker's campaign in 2001, according to a Thursday news release.
He also served as the president of the College Republicans at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and has volunteered on the campaigns of local Republicans such as county Mayor Jim Coppinger and Hamilton County Commission chair Sabrena Smedley.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga councilwoman says city has failed at making diverse appointments)
McClendon, 26, will be running in a transformed District 8 after county commissioners last month approved an 11-district map to replace the county's nine-district map.
District 8 currently includes all of East Ridge and a southern portion of Chattanooga.
Now, however, the district will no longer include a portion of East Brainerd, specifically the area surrounding East Brainerd Elementary School and the school itself. Those areas moved to District 7.
Contact Logan Hullinger at lhullinger@timesfreepress.com or 814-319-5158. Follow him on Twitter @LoganHullinger.