Who your taxes go to, who to call, and the local political characters worth
knowing. This page is a snapshot - elections happen, so verify before you
assume.
Hamilton County has a county mayor (executive) and a 11-member county
commission (legislative). As of 2026 the commission is 8 Republicans /
3 Democrats.
- County Mayor: Weston Wamp (R) - first elected 2022 (youngest person
ever elected to the office), re-elected to a second term in August
2026 (Local 3 News).
Son of former U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp. Priorities have included the
new Criminal Justice Center (the old jail replacement), school
funding, and road/EMS investment. See his section below.
- County Commission (11 districts): Gene-O Shipley (D1), Chip Baker
(D2), Ken Smith (D3), Warren Mackey (D4), Greg Beck (D5), David Sharpe
(D6), Lee Helton (D7), Mike Chauncey (D8), Steve Highlander (D9), Jeff
Eversole (D10), Joe Graham (D11).
- Other elected county officials:
- District Attorney: Coty Wamp (R) - 11th Judicial District, first
woman elected to the post (2022)
(Local 3 News).
- Sheriff: Austin Garrett (R).
- County Clerk: Bill Knowles; Trustee: Bill Hullander; Assessor:
Marty Haynes; Register of Deeds: Marc Gravitt.
- County courts: the 11th Judicial District covers Hamilton County.
Courts include Chancery (Fleenor, Atherton), Circuit (Bennett, Dumitru,
Williams, Hedrick), Criminal (Steelman, Greenholtz, Poole), General
Sessions, and Juvenile (Philyaw).
Chattanooga has a mayor (elected at-large) and a 9-member city
council (single-member districts). City elections are non-partisan; city
council terms run 4 years (all 9 seats were on the ballot in March 2025).
- Mayor: Tim Kelly (Independent) - first elected April 2021, re-elected
March 2025 (Local 3 News).
Businessman (auto dealerships, co-founder of
Chattanooga FC), Baylor School + Columbia + Emory. Notable initiatives:
One Chattanooga plan, affordable housing (PILOTs, land bank, ADUs), the
South Broad / new Lookouts stadium, the Westside "One Westside"
redevelopment, and Chattanooga's first-in-North-America National Park
City designation (chattanooga.gov).
- City Council (2026):
- D1: Chip Henderson (Hixson, Lookout Valley, Moccasin Bend)
- D2: Jenny Hill (Lupton City, North Chattanooga, Riverview) - council chair
- D3: Jeff Davis (Hixson/Dupont) - elected 2025
- D4: Cody Harvey (East Brainerd)
- D5: Dennis Clark (Bonny Oaks, Dalewood, Woodmore)
- D6: Jenni Berz (Northshore area)
- D7: Raquetta Dotley (downtown, Alton Park, St. Elmo, East Lake)
- D8: Marvene Noel (Amnicola, Avondale, Eastside)
- D9: Ron Elliott (East Chattanooga, Ridgedale, Missionary Ridge)
- Council meets Tuesdays at 3:30pm; you can speak for 3 minutes at the
end of business meetings. Voicemail for your councilperson: (423) 643-7170
then press your district number.
Public schools are run by Hamilton County Schools (HCS) - Tennessee's
largest school district (~44,000 students) (Wikipedia:
HCS). Oversight is
an 11-member elected school board (2026: 7 Republicans / 4
Democrats), and the board hires the superintendent (Dr. Justin
Robertson) (Wikipedia: HCS).
- School board districts: D1 Steve Slater, D2 Ben Daugherty, D3 Joe Smith,
D4 Jackie Anderson Thomas, D5 Karitsa Jones, D6 Ben Connor, D7 Jodi
Schaffer, D8 Larry Grohn, D9 Gary Kuehn, D10 Felice Hadden, D11 Jill
Black.
- See Schools in Hamilton County for the actual
schools - the public district, magnets, and private options.
Hamilton County is in State Senate districts 10 & 11 and House
districts 26-30.
- State Senate: Dist. 10 - Todd Gardenhire (R); Dist. 11 - Bo
Watson (R).
- State House:
- Dist. 26: Greg Martin (R)
- Dist. 27: Michele Reneau (R)
- Dist. 28: Yusuf Hakeem (D) - the county's sole Democratic state rep
- Dist. 29: Greg Vital (R)
- Dist. 30: Esther Helton-Haynes (R)
- Find yours at
wapp.capitol.tn.gov.
- U.S. House: all of Hamilton County is in Tennessee's 3rd
congressional district - Chuck Fleischmann (R), first elected 2010
(Wikipedia).
- U.S. Senate: Marsha Blackburn (R) and Bill Hagerty (R).
(For notable non-political locals - celebrities, business figures, and
people who end up in the news for other reasons - see
Notable Locals.)
The fourth county mayor in Hamilton County history, and the youngest ever
elected - he first ran for Congress at 24 (losing the 2012 race for TN-3).
A fiscal conservative, he has pushed term limits for the mayor's office,
claimed credit for lowering the county's property tax rate, and championed
school and road funding (WDEF).
His biggest legacy project is the new Criminal
Justice Center (replacing the aging county jail), which has been a
recurring source of budget and timeline controversy with the commission and
sheriff's office.
His 2026 re-election was much closer than expected - he beat Democrat
Mark Herndon by a narrow margin in the August 6 general election, and made
headlines afterwards criticizing the slow vote count and what he called
"tribal" voting (Local 3 News).
He also publicly said Herndon "ran a shameful, hateful campaign" that took
shots at his family (Chattanoogan.com).
A political newcomer from Sale Creek who jumped into the 2026 county
mayor's race as a Democrat. Background: a missionary kid (his parents served
30+ years in South America), he moved to Chattanooga in 2001
(Local 3 News)
and works as a builder/restorer. His platform: a moratorium on data
centers, pushing back on the county's Flock surveillance camera
expansion, affordable housing, a living wage, and "people over insiders."
He nearly pulled off an upset in August 2026, which made the local race
unusually competitive.
- Tim Kelly - see above; Chattanooga's mayor since 2021.
- Coty Wamp - District Attorney (11th Judicial District); first woman
to hold the office; the county mayor's sister
(WDEF).
- Jenny Hill - city council chair; a leading voice on affordable
housing policy in the city.
- Raquetta Dotley - first African-American woman elected to represent
Council District 7, and the first to chair the council.
Last updated: September 2026.