A field of 10 line up for Mumpower's seat

A former school board member, a congressional press secretary and a golf course owner are among a group of 10 who hope to take over the House Majority Leader’s seat in the 99-member Tennessee House of Representatives.

The pool of candidates includes seven Republicans who will face off against each other in the Aug. 5 GOP primary. The primary winner will challenge two independents and one Democratic candidate in the Nov. 2 general election.

Mumpower, who represented Johnson and Sullivan County’s 3rd District seat in the state House for 14 years before announcing his retirement last week, said he did not have a favorite horse in the race to replace him.

But in an interview last week, Mumpower said he is rooting for a Republican, because he believes a member of that party would “best represent the values of the 3rd District.”

The Republicans:
* Rick Armstrong works as a commercial real estate broker for the TCI Group and has served on the Bristol Tennessee School Board. Married to Sullivan County Commissioner Cathy Armstrong of Bristol, he filed his petition, containing the required 25 signatures from registered voters, with the Sullivan County Election Commission on Wednesday.
* After interning for two congressmen, Scotty Campbell has spent the past four years working in the state legislature and is now a legislative assistant for House Speaker Kent Williams. Campbell, a 26-year-old Mountain City resident, filed his petition with the Johnson County Election Commission on March 29 and already has earned his boss’ endorsement in the Aug. 5 primary.
* When Marvin Gurley bought the Tri-Cities Golf Club in 1985, he added another nine holes to its course and built condominiums around the property. Though the Blountville resident has since sold the golf course, he continues to work as a commercial developer in the area. On Thursday, he said there needs to be more businessmen in the state legislature. Gurley submitted his petition to the Sullivan County Election Commission on Monday.
* Timothy Hill, the brother of state Rep. Matthew Hill, R-Jonesborough, worked as a press secretary for U.S. Rep. David Davis, R-1st District, before starting his own company, Right Way Marketing. During his tenure with Davis, the Kingsport resident was forced to take ethics classes after he was caught making a series of controversial edits to his boss’ Wikipedia page. Hill filed his petition Monday.
* Though he’s always been interested in running for the state legislature, Carl Howard knew he would face an uphill battle if he ran against Mumpower while the seven-term legislator was still in office. Howard, who owns a Mountain City hardware store owner, is a former Johnson County clerk candidate. He filed his petition for the legislative seat with election officials in his county half an hour before Thursday’s noon deadline.
* Kingsport resident Nick Collette and Bluff City resident Sherry Grubb could not be reached for comment, despite repeated calls Thursday to the phone numbers they included with their petitions. The candidates submitted their paperwork Tuesday and Monday, respectively.

The Democrat
* Joe Mike Akard submitted his petition to Sullivan County election officials Wednesday, kicking off his fourth bid for a seat in the state House over the past 12 years. The Blountville resident and maintenance and building supervisor for the Sullivan County school system ran against Mumpower in 2004 and lost by a 28-point margin. He also ran against Republican Steve Godsey, who now serves as the Sullivan County mayor, for a seat representing the state’s 1st District in 2000 and 1998, and lost both times.

The Independents
* Bristol attorney Parke Morris has been through several tough fights in the 12 years he’s practiced law. He also had to fight to get his name on the ballot: While Morris lives in Sullivan County, he is not a resident of the 3rd District and election officials at first refused to give him a petition to get his name on the ballot. But after showing county election officials a passage in the state code that allows him to run, Morris was given his petition and he turned it in Monday. The only problem now is that if he wins, Morris must move into the 3rd District, otherwise he will be tossed out of office and a special election will be called to fill his seat.
* During race week, Lee White gained a bit of popularity by protesting the cameras the Bluff City Police Department uses to catch speeders on U.S. Highway 11E. It’s a position the Blountville resident shares with Mumpower, who as part of his last two-year term in office is carrying a series of bills designed to regulate the use of traffic surveillance cameras in Tennessee or to ban their use all together.

gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518