HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- The 2026 campaign is off to a start as Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp formally announced his reelection campaign at the Wamp Labor Day Picnic at Chester Frost Park.
Joining him was Senator Marsha Blackburn who made her first major stop in Chattanooga for her own gubernatorial campaign.
Mayor Wamp says that he is looking to complete an eight year mission.
He says this will be the last term he will run for as county mayor.
Mayor Wamp said, “What we’re interested in what’s best for our people. We’re excited about others moving here and others investing here, but we want our companies to thrive. We want our people to have the first opportunity for great jobs, and that’s a pretty consistent theme for all of us.”
His sister, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp, told the crowd that, “I’m going to be honest, I had no idea that in the first three years that he would do basically every damn thing he said was going to do.”
The mayor highlighted continued investments in education as one of his key priorities if elected to a second term.
Mayor Wamp added, “Let’s look 20 years ahead. Let’s go and pave roads in a systematic way. Let’s think long term about parks and how we approach conservation across our county. One thing I like about the moving tradewinds is that conservatives can be conservationists.”
Meanwhile, joining the Mayor was Senator Marsha Blackburn.
She announced her campaign for Governor to replace Governor Bill Lee earlier this year, and says she’s ready to shift her focus away from Washington back to Tennessee.
Senator Blackburn said, “Everybody is looking to come to Tennessee at this point in time. As I said in my remarks, Tennessee does not need a manager, they need a leader.”
She says that focusing on making Tennessee resilient to continuous growth while maintaining conservative principles is her main goal.
The senator mentioned one such thing she’s working on now is reigning in TVA’s leadership alongside Congressman Tim Burchett
Senator Blackburn said, “Too often when it comes to the TVA, we don’t know what they’re doing, when they’re doing it, or at the pace they are working. So bringing some transparency to that.”
Both candidates were joined by Senator Bo Watson, Congressman Burchett, and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, who say this event was a show of unity for Tennessee Republicans.
Mayor Jacobs said, “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Hamilton County doesn’t, Knox County doesn’t either. Hamilton County does a great thing, we’re going to look at that, potentially take it, and I think the same goes for Knox County.”
The county mayoral primary election will be in May 2026, followed by that general election in August, which will be the same day as the gubernatorial primary.
The general election for the gubernatorial race will be during the midterms in November 2026.
