The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 06:35 PM

Former Tennessee Congressman Entering Race To Replace Sen. Bob Corker

A former congressman from Tennessee is joining the race to succeed Republican Bob Corker in the Senate.

Former U.S. Rep. Stephen Fincher, a gospel singing farmer from the rural western Tennessee community of Frog Jump, announced his bid in an interview with The Tennessean .

The 44-year-old Fincher enters the 2018 Republican primary after finishing a 10-day statewide tour to discuss the race.

He'll face Rep. Marsha Blackburn, a suburban Nashville Republican who jumped into the race with a polished campaign video within an hour of Gov. Bill Haslam's announcement that he would not run.

Fincher was elected to Congress in the tea party-fueled election of 2010. His announcement that he wouldn't seek fourth term in 2016 came as a surprise to many political observers.

Corker announced Sept. 26 he wouldn't run for Senate again