Athens, Tennessee, businessman Dennis Beavers, a hopeful for outgoing state Sen. Mike Bell‘s seat, has been removed from the ballot for the state’s new Senate District 1 after a hearing Wednesday in McMinn County found he was not eligible to run in the Aug. 4 state Republican Primary.
“A challenge of residency was filed with the state election office,” McMinn County Administrator of Elections TeAnna McKinney said Thursday in a telephone interview. “We held a hearing on his residency last night. The other Senate candidates’ petitions were certified for the ballot.”
McKinney said officials in McMinn have no idea who filed the challenge but after the hearing ended, Beavers’ name was no longer on the Aug. 4 ballot containing races in party primary elections held for governor, U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessee Senate – odd-numbered districts – and Tennessee House of Representatives.
Beavers, who owns a 140-acre cattle farm and home in McMinn County, announced his state Senate bid in December when he lived in Senate District 9. Under redistricting, his ranch was assigned to Senate District 1, using new census data.
He worked on former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and was appointed by Trump to serve as the executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farms Services Agency in Tennessee.