A new election race has begun in Chattanooga. With so much focus on Trump and Clinton, you might have missed the kickoff.
On August 30, Larry Grohn, the District 4 Councilman in Chattanooga, announced he would be running for mayor.
That vote is about five months away, in March of 2017.
Grohn says violence in the city, a lack of housing, and a lack of workforce development are issues he wants to address in his campaign.
“As well as our city is doing,"he says, "we can do better in these regards."
But voter turnout is usually low in these off-year elections.
"We do experience a lot of voter fatigue," he says, "because we have been in election mode, by the time November gets here, almost 18 months.”
Shortly after Grohn began campaigning, incumbent Mayor Andy Berke announced his bid for re-election. Berke says Grohn's timing has nothing to do with his own timing--nor does a high-profile investigation that's currently underway.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into a domestic assault case involving one of Berke's staff, and the investigation has generated negative publicity for Berke's administration. Lacie Stone is Berke's senior adviser, and earlier this year, Stone’s husband was arrested after allegedly assaulting her in a domestic violence incident.
Her husband has accused her of having an affair with Berke—a claim Berke denies.
And Berke says the pending TBI report is not a factor in why he's already started his 2017 campaign.
“I think I have spoken to that before," Berke says, "and I am excited for that to come to a conclusion.”
With the mayoral election only five months away, it's simply time for Berke and Grohn to start stumping. But it may be a challenge to get voters excited about a mayoral race, so soon after such a contentious Presidential race.
Talking about what may have motivated city leaders to schedule municipal elections only months after November, Berke says, ”They wanted people who were not going to be swayed by what was going on in the national or state elections. They wanted people to be focused on how the municipal life was going and to take it out of the partisan context.”
In March, Berke may face another opponent. Tennessee House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick recently told the Chattanooga Times Free Press he’s considering a run for mayor. Although the outcome is anyone's guess, one thing is clear: Chattanoogans will have to push through any voter fatigue and make another trip to the polls.