A Knoxville attorney has become the latest person to enter the race to unseat incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in next year's election.
Democrat Terry Adams has announced his bid to run for the seat. He joins a field already occupied by Democrats Larry Crim and Jacob Maurer. Republicans Brenda Lenard, Joe Carr and Danny Page have announced their intention to challenge Sen. Alexander in next spring's GOP primary.
“Washington is broken and we are not going to fix it by sending back the same people responsible for breaking it in the first place,” a statement from Adams said. The statement also indicated that Adams would try to build an advantage as Alexander fights off challengers from within his own party.
Adams' supporters have planned a fundraiser for Tuesday night, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Prominent state Democrats and major fundraisers have been invited.
Alexander, running for his third term in the U.S. Senate, has attracted opponents on both sides of the aisle, albeit for different reasons. Carr, Lenard and Page are vying for the support of tea party groups dissatisfied with what they perceive to be Alexander's lack of conservative credentials. Crim and Maurer both ran for the Democratic nomination in 2012.
In the 2008 campaign, Alexander won a second term with 65 percent of the vote. He carried 94 of Tennessee's 95 counties.