Hamilton County was fortunate to have the services of Chris Devaney as long as it did, but the county’s lobbyist will now manage the 2026 gubernatorial campaign of U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-Cookeville. Since being approved by the Hamilton County Commission in February, the well-connected political consultant was able to help secure $15 million for the revitalization of the riverfront, $2 million for the Franklin-Roberts Future Ready Center and funds for school security officers in the Governor’s Statewide School Officer Grant Program.
Devaney, who also ran Gov. Bill Lee’s 2018 campaign, previously worked for U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tennessee, and was chair of the state Republican Party from 2009 to 2015. He also worked for the unsuccessful Republican primary campaign of Manny Sethi for U.S. Senate in 2020.
Whether Devaney’s work will pay off as it did for Lee, whose authenticity allowed him to slide past the frequently bickering gubernatorial front-runners Randy Boyd, now the president of the University of Tennessee system, and U.S. Rep Diane Black in 2018, or just miss as it did with the well-regarded Sethi, who couldn’t overcome President Donald Trump’s endorsement of now-U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty in 2020, remains to be seen.
Rose would certainly face an uphill battle against now-U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who has shown all indications of launching a campaign of her own.
› A strategic growth plan for the county, in the works for three years and originally scheduled to be presented more than six months ago but paused to allow rethinking and compromise with residents in the northeast part of the county who were outraged that infrastructure has not preceded growth, finally will be before the Hamilton County Commission next week.