Hamilton County DA Race Features Family Dynasty Vs. Veteran Attorney

By Dulce Torres Guzman, Tennessee Lookout

July 6, 2022

A heated race in Hamilton County has candidates clashing on key issues, including whether they will enforce Tennessee’s abortion ban if elected.

After Coty Wamp handily beat incumbent Neal Pinkston in the Republican primary, she now faces John Allen Brooks, the Democratic candidate, for the position of Hamilton County District Attorney during a term in which they will decide how to combat recent bouts of violence in Chattanooga and enforce new state laws.

Coty Wamp: Young blood

Wamp, a Chattanooga native, comes from a political background as the daughter of former 8-term U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, a conservative Republican. Her brother, Weston Wamp, is also running for Hamilton County Mayor after unsuccessfully running for his father’s former seat in 2012 and 2014.
Wamp’s professional background includes serving as a former public defender, former prosecutor, assistant public defender in the 11th judicial district and assistant district attorney in the 10th judicial district. She currently serves as counsel to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.

Wamp defeated Pinkston for the Republican nomination and received more than 70% of the vote after campaigning on support for law enforcement and eliminating positions Pinkston created—including one for his wife and her brother—in the DA’s office.

She seeks to eliminate three positions in the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office – chief of staff, communications director and BULLSEYE coordinator– which will allow $200,000 to be used as annual salaries for prosecutors, according to her campaign.

BULLSEYE is a program created by Pinkston focusing on creating resources for at-risk communities and youth instead of policing to prevent gang violence.

She also disagreed with Pinkston’s decision to eliminate the position of prosecutor dedicated to child sexual abuse cases and seeks to restore the position.

Wamp clashed with the Chattanooga NAACP after being asked by the president, the Rev. Ann Jones Pierre, to apologize for statements made during a meeting with the Tennessee Valley Republican Women regarding the number of Black Americans shot by police. Wamp had previously declined to attend a debate hosted by the NAACP at which both Pinkston and Brooks spoke.

“But listen, the NAACP has accomplished some good things in the last hundred years, but one of them is not the way they’ve treated law enforcement. And I just can’t stand behind it right now,” said Wamp during the meeting. “And until on their website they talk about, they have the statistics about how many African Americans are shot by police every year, but they don’t have the statistics about how many African Americans are shot by African Americans or how many police officers are shot by anybody.”

Wamp declined to apologize, calling the NAACP “divisive.”

John Allen Brooks: Seasoned official

Brooks, a native Hamilton County resident, served as a criminal defense and juvenile attorney and served as a Hamilton County Commissioner from 2006 to 2010. He also served as the chair of the Hamilton County Democratic party.

Brook’s campaign focuses on key issues of decriminalizing marijuana, protecting witnesses to violent crime and relieving overcrowding at the Silverdale Detention Center by focusing on violent crime.

Enforcing state laws: Yay or nay

Brooks and Wamp have clashed on several key issues.

After the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the federal protections in Roe v. Wade on June 24, both candidates reacted to Tennessee’s abortion “trigger ban” law, which will take effect in mid-August.

Brooks will not prosecute women seeking abortions, he has said, but Tennessee’s law does not criminalize women seeking abortions, only doctors performing them.

“The overturning of Roe v. Wade turns back the clock. As district attorney, it is my duty to make Hamilton County a safer place to live for everyone. I will not prosecute anyone for making medical decisions about their own body,” said Brooks.

In contrast, Wamp said that as district attorney, she will enforce state laws regarding abortion, calling abortion legislation “in the best interest of their own state.”

“I will support, uphold, and enforce any legislation that is passed by the Tennessee General Assembly and signed by the governor that addresses abortion in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. My duty is to the laws of our State. My obligation will be to enforce the criminal statutes that are put in place by our legislature. I will do that with fidelity as long as I am a district attorney general,” she said.

Both candidates also disagree on how to react to a series of shootings in Chattanooga over a three-week span.

Wamp referred to the shootings as “gang-related,” which Brooks said implied that “any young Black victim of gun crime is involved in a gang.

“The fact is, most victims of this recent maelstrom of violence were simply out with their friends or attending a graduate student’s birthday party,” said Brooks, calling the term a “racist dog whistle.”

“We also won’t hide from the word ‘gang,”said Wamp. “This violence is gang-related. Period. We cannot fix the problem until we are honest about the problem.”

State and federal primaries are on August 4, with early voting running from July 15-30.

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