Only three names on this year’s Aug. 1 election ballot have been candidates for elected office for more than 20 years.
By our count, Yusuf Hakeem will be facing voters for the 14th year (covering around 36 years in office) on Thursday, three times as a Chattanooga City school board candidate, seven times as a Chattanooga City Council candidate and now for the fourth time as the state House District 28 candidate.
State Sen. Todd Gardenhire is seeking his fourth term in the state Senate but previously ran in the Republican primary for a 3rd District congressional seat in 1992, as an at-large delegate for Jack Kemp in the 1988 Republican primary race, as an at-large delegate at the Republican National Convention in 1984, for District 10 Republican state committeeman in 1982, and as an at-large delegate for Ronald Reagan at the Republican National Convention in 1980.
While U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is only on local ballots for the second time, having been elected to the Senate in 2018, she previously was a congresswoman from the mid-state area since 2003 and prior to that a state senator from 1999 to 2003.