Incumbent Hamilton County Commissioner Joe Graham, R-Lookout Valley, has held elected office for over a decade.
He’s seeking another four-year term on the commission to try to build out education and workforce development in the county, among other things, he said in an interview.
“We’re kind of stagnant,” Graham said. “We need more jobs. We need smart growth. We graduate 5,000 kids a year between private and public schools … Selfishly, I want to keep my children home. I want them to find jobs here. I want them to stay here.”
Graham will face Democratic challenger and Alton Park resident Montrell Besley on Aug. 6 in the upcoming county general election. They’re running to represent District 11, which represents Chattanooga neighborhoods of Southside, East Lake, Alton Park, St. Elmo, Lookout Valley and parts of Missionary Ridge. It also encompasses the sections of Lookout Mountain within the county.
Graham, 60, lives in Lookout Valley and owns a printing business, a car wash and a rental property. He’s lived in the district since he was 12 years old, he said, and he’s raised four children there with his wife.
He was first elected to a commission seat in 2010 representing parts of Red Bank, North Chattanooga and Lookout Valley, serving for eight years. Then he was ousted by Democrat David Sharpe in the 2018 election. After that, the county went through redistricting because of population growth, and the redistricting split some districts and overall added two new seats – Districts 10 and 11 – to the County Commission.
(READ MORE: Democratic challenger Montrell Besley wants new school in South Chattanooga)
Graham ran for the new District 11 seat in 2022, facing Besley. Graham won by a few dozen votes.
His first experience with local politics was starting a neighborhood association to fight the sale of an old school building in Lookout Valley. The city of Chattanooga eventually turned it into a recreation center, Graham said.
“A group of community leaders came to me and said, ‘We need you on the County Commission,'” he said. “I tried it and won big.”
If elected for a fourth term, he wants to see new revenue streams open up for the county so the commission can continue to keep taxes low and work on major infrastructure projects at the same time, he said.
The state collects taxes on real estate transactions, he said, and he wants to ask for the state to share some of that money with the counties those sales are made in. That could add millions more to the county budget, Graham said. The money could then funnel into road paving, school maintenance and long-term projects like a county-operated sewage treatment plant.
He’d like to see the county start identifying property for that sewage treatment plant within the next four years, he said.
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He’s looking forward to seeing the completion of a new indoor sports facility for The Howard School, he said.
He’s also trying to shepherd the process of turning Howard Connect, an application-only magnet middle school, into a zoned middle school for his district, he said. The school board still needs to vote on whether to do that, Graham said.
“The kids that already feed into Howard now would be feeding into that same school, so logistically, they’d be on the same transportation,” Graham said. “It’d be a great use of that space.”
Graham is a genuine fiscal conservative, said Corky Coker, a Chattanooga businessman and entrepreneur.
Coker knew Graham before the commissioner entered the world of politics, Coker said, and he’s pleased with the way he handles his duties as a commissioner.
“He understands the cost to business, the cost to a family that government puts on a household or a business,” Coker said. “Those are important aspects for somebody that comes into government and pay back for what gifts we have in our country and our city and our county.”
OFFICE DETAILS
Duties: County commissioners set the county property tax rate, vote on the annual budget, approve county contracts and vote on local zoning requests.
District: District 11 includes Southside, East Lake, Alton Park, St. Elmo, Lookout Valley, Lookout Mountain and parts of Missionary Ridge.
Key issues: School funding in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, housing affordability, economic growth and local business development.
Timing: New commissioners take office Sept. 1, 2026.
Salary: As of fiscal year 2027, commissioners are paid about $28,600 a year.
THE ELECTION
The general election is Aug. 6, and early voting runs July 17-Aug. 1.
WHERE THE CANDIDATES STAND
Do you think the school budget is adequately funded?
“No. We’re still losing teachers to Georgia and Alabama and North Carolina. We wouldn’t lose as many teachers if the school system was adequately funded. Could the school system probably cut a few things? Probably so. But our teachers need more support. Our teachers need to be able to afford to live in Hamilton County. We have a lot of teachers that live outside the county, and that’s by force, not by choice … We have to do a better job at supporting education and supporting whatever superintendent that’s in place.”
– Montrell Besley, Democrat
“I think it’s adequately funded with the percentages that we give them, yes … But that’s a question really and truly for the school board. That’s for them to decide where they are utilizing the monies that they have and where it’s best used and not best used. I highly respect our school board because they are elected officials just like we are … For example, I want to see remodeling the (The Howard School) building and adding an addition. I really want to see that get done. But that’s the school board’s league. I’m there to support them.”
– Joe Graham, Republican
Do you think your district is growing too fast or too slow?
“Too slow. There hasn’t been enough investment. You see the growth in Lookout Valley, that’s great, I love it. St. Elmo is really getting a big boom. But when it comes to Alton Park and East Lake, they’ve looked the same since I was a kid. At one point, Alton Park was thriving, but when those guys and ladies got older, their businesses kind of fizzled out and got sold to people who didn’t care about the community. We’ve got to figure out how we’re going to revitalize 23rd Street, 38th Street, Alton Park Boulevard … It’s slow growth. We need to speed it up about 10 notches to medium growth.”
– Montrell Besley, Democrat
“I think it’s the greatest district in Hamilton County. It’s got a mix of everybody: the richest, the poorest, every nationality. I think it is by far the best district. And it is growing. The stadium was a big help to us as far as growth. It’s yet to see if it’s growing too fast, but we are growing.”
– Joe Graham, Republican
Contact city and county reporter Siena Duncan at sduncan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.