If Greg Martin is tapped for state seat
Ken Smith, the District 3 Chattanooga city councilman, has declared that if the Hamilton County Commission appoints Commissioner Greg Martin to the open District 26 state House seat later this month, he would seek the open commission seat.
Martin is one of three candidates who have applied with the commission for the House appointment. Whether or not he is appointed, he plans to seek the GOP nomination for the post in the August state primary.
The others who have applied for the appointment are David Swinford, who also has picked up papers to run in the GOP primary, and Shannon Stephenson, chief executive officer of Cempa Community Care, who said she would be seeking just the temporary appointment.
Smith is currently in his third term on the city council and following his 2017 re-election had been mentioned as a potential mayoral candidate in 2021. However, he did not run.