With the announcement by State Senator Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) on Monday that he wouldn’t seek reelection, WZQZ News reached out to some of his former challengers to find out if they had plans to seek the now-open seat.  Trion Mayor Lanny Thomas opposed Mullis in the Republican Primary in 2016.  Mayor Thomas gave us the following statement:

“The news of Senator Mullis making the announcement he is not seeking re-election took me by total surprise. I immediately messaged him to thank him for his years of service to the Town of Trion and our County. As you know, I once ran against Senator Mullis for his seat. We had three very good debates during that race. We kept the race clean. We have been friends since then. As for a scenario as to where I would consider running again for that seat, I can not envision such a scenario. I would like to serve in that capacity one day but the timing for now is not good. The people of Trion have voted for me to be Mayor of this beautiful town. That is where I am and will continue to be.”

WZQZ News will have more on the race for the 53rd Senate District throughout the week. Qualifying ends on Friday at noon.