Voters picked candidates in five contested Hamilton County Commission races to move on to the general election Tuesday night. Four of those five are set to face no general challenger on the ballot in August, effectively deciding those races.
Commissioners are elected to four-year terms, with 11 seats representing districts across the county. They vote on the county’s annual budget, make decisions about land use and have the final say on whether to approve contracts and some large county projects.
Each incumbent commissioner ran again, and all except Commissioner Ken Smith, R-Hixson, drew challengers, either during the primaries or the general election. At least one incumbent lost to his challenger as the Hamilton County Election Commission reported results Tuesday night.
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Hamilton County Commission Primary – May 5, 2026
The general election will be Aug. 6. Results of the five contested primaries:
District 2 Republican primary (Signal Mountain, Walden, Fairmount)
Commissioner Chip Baker of Signal Mountain defeated his Republican challenger, Brad Wardlaw, by 404 votes.
Baker, 68, has served two four-year terms representing a western strip of Hamilton County. He lives with his wife near the Applewood neighborhood in unincorporated Hamilton County and currently works as a management consultant. Prior to being elected commissioner, he was a school board member for 12 years.
He has raised about $38,500 in donations since the beginning of 2025, with about $44,500 on hand just before the primaries — some left over from the 2022 election cycle.
Baker said by phone that he worked harder on this campaign than all his past races. That was because he realized it was going to be a competitive race against Wardlaw, he said.
“It’s always good to have a good race,” Baker said. “It makes you a better candidate and a better person.”
Baker will go on to face Democratic challenger Amanda Sovago-Royal in the August general election.
“We’ll just buckle down and work hard,” Baker said. “I think this race was more formidable than the next, but we’ll take nothing for granted.”
District 4 Democratic primary (downtown Chattanooga, Fort Wood, Orchard Knob, Highland Park, Ridgedale, Avondale)
Commissioner Warren Mackey of Bluff View defeated his Democratic challenger, Elea Wright, by 141 votes, the slimmest margin of the five contested races.
Mackey, 76, has served for 20 years representing Chattanooga’s downtown and some of the densest neighborhoods surrounding it. Now retired, he previously taught history at Chattanooga State Community College. He lives near the Bluff View Art District.
He has raised about $43,000 in campaign donations since the beginning of 2025, with about $14,000 on hand just before the primaries. He’s the runner-up for the commission candidate with the most donations this election cycle.
Mackey has no Republican or independent challenger on the August ballot.
He said by phone Tuesday night that he had a worthy opponent. It was a tough race, he said, and Wright was a fighter. He thinks she has a bright future, he said.
Still, he is happy that he is set to eventually sit on the Hamilton County Commission for another four years, he said.
“I feel like the people in the fourth district made a great decision,” Mackey said. “They went with a person who has grasped how government works. I have a grasp of the issues. I have listened to the voice of the people who selected me to represent them in county government.”
He does not intend to run again, Mackey said. He has been looking at options for people who would do well in his seat and he hopes to train someone to eventually succeed him over the next four years, he said.
During an interview at Wright’s watch party as the results came in, she said if she had started her campaign earlier she thinks she could have won. She said some people had already voted when she was knocking on doors.
Mackey spent much more money on his campaign than she did, Wright said, and she still was able to run a close race, in her view.
“I want him to represent the entire district, because he’s let a lot of people down, and I have to live with that too,” Wright said.
(READ MORE: Hamilton County Commission candidates report about $250K in campaign donations)
District 5 Democratic primary (Brainerd, Woodmore, Washington Hills, Eastdale, Ridgeside)
Democratic challenger Katherlyn Geter defeated incumbent Commissioner Greg Beck of North Brainerd by 433 votes.
Geter, 51, previously served as a commissioner from 2018 to 2022, opting not to run for a second term at the time because of her partner’s health issues. She had defeated Beck during the 2018 Democratic primary. Before that, Beck had held the seat for 12 years.
Geter lives north of Woodmore in the Talley Center neighborhood and works as a program director for the Enterprise Center.
She out-raised Beck leading to the primaries, receiving about $13,500 in campaign donations, while he received about $10,000. She had about $2,500 on hand just before the primaries.
Geter has no Republican or independent challenger on the August ballot.
Geter said by phone that she was grateful for another opportunity to sit on the Hamilton County Commission. She is ready to reestablish relationships in her district, she said, and prepare to eventually take office.
“I’m back,” she said after learning the results.
She didn’t know what to expect on election day, she said. Beck has been a pillar in the community, she said, and she knew he had name recognition. But she wanted to run again after people reached out with concerns, she said.
“You know, the folks that circled Katherlyn Geter, I am, I’m grateful for that,” Geter said in an interview at her watch party Tuesday night while holding back tears. “But even those that voted for Commissioner Beck, it’s about earning their trust and their respect, and so starting tomorrow, I want to build that cadence on what accountability and transparency looks like in a relationship, and build that relationship with me.”
Beck did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The campaign approach between when Geter first ran and this race didn’t change drastically, said Christine McWhorter, Geter’s campaign treasurer, aside focusing on more spending in Belvoir, a new portion of the district after redistricting in 2022.
“That was a new community that didn’t know her eight years ago,” McWhorter said. “So we spent a lot of time in that community. And I think it shows by her looks for the Belvoir district.”
The race had the highest turnout overall, with about 2,900 people voting.
District 9 Republican primary (Harrison, Snow Hill, Birchwood)
Commissioner Steve Highlander of Harrison defeated his Republican challenger, Donna Christian-Lowe, by 1,281 votes, the largest gap of the five contested races.
Highlander, 74, has been a commissioner for one full four-year term, first appointed in 2021 to fill a vacancy in the District 9 seat. He previously served on the school board for seven years. He’s a retired teacher who has lived in Harrison for the majority of his life.
Since the beginning of 2025, Highlander has raised about $11,500 in campaign donations, alongside $20,000 out of his own pocket. He had about $14,000 on hand just before the primaries, some left over from the 2022 election cycle.
Highlander has no Democratic or independent challenger on the August ballot.
He said by phone he’s ready to focus all of his attention on improving roads and schools in his district now that his election season is effectively over. He collected all of his campaign signs Tuesday evening, he said.
“I’m very tired, but I’m pleasantly tired,” Highlander said. “I’m very pleased with the way it came out.”
District 10 Republican primary (Ooltewah, Collegedale, Georgetown)
Commissioner Jeff Eversole of Ooltewah defeated his Republican challenger, Collegedale Vice Mayor Tonya Sadler, by 876 votes.
Eversole, 60, has served one four-year term so far, first elected in 2022 to a new seat representing a southeast portion of the county. Now retired, he previously worked as a Walmart executive overseeing store operations in Southeast Tennessee.
He’s raised the most campaign donations of any commission candidate so far, receiving about $70,000, alongside pulling about $22,000 out of his own pocket. He had about $52,500 on hand just before the primaries.
Eversole has no Democratic or independent challenger on the August ballot. He did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.
Contact city and county reporter Siena Duncan at sduncan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.