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Hamilton County school board candidate removed from Republican primary ballot

Staff File Photo by Matt Hamilton / Voters wait in line to participate in early voting at the Hamilton County Election Commission.
Staff File Photo by Matt Hamilton / Voters wait in line to participate in early voting at the Hamilton County Election Commission. Staff File Photo by Matt Hamilton / Voters wait in line to participate in early voting at the Hamilton County Election Commission.

Hamilton County school board candidate Tom Marshall will not be allowed to run in the May 5 primary as a Republican, Tennessee GOP officials ruled.

Marshall’s removal from the ballot comes after the Tennessee Republican Party sent a letter Feb. 25 to the state election coordinator asking for more than 100 candidates to be withdrawn from the primaries because they did not meet the party’s qualifications to be considered a “bona fide” Republican.

Those hoping to run as a Republican in the primary had until Thursday, when the ballots were solidified, to correct any issues with their candidacy, the state’s Republican Party chair, Scott Golden, previously told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. If they did not do so by then, they would not be able to participate as Republicans in the election.

(READ MORE: Wamp among candidates ‘temporarily removed’ from primary ballots)

Hamilton County Elections Administrator Scott Allen confirmed by phone Friday that Marshall was not included on the list the Election Commission received of candidates who were reinstated to the Republican primary ballot.