A couple weeks ago, Georgiana Vines column reported that Rep. Jimmy Matlock (R) of District 21 representing portions of Loudon and Monroe Counties announced that he will run for re-election in 2016. Several individuals in the district for some odd reason believed that Matlock was not going to run and had begun to make some sound and moves, one of those individuals was one term Representative from District 32, Julia Hurley.
In 2014, Matlock became Transportation Committee Chair and serving together with Senator Randy McNally service on the Finance Committee sharing the same district, District 21 will be the recipient of experienced legislators helping District 21 secure assistance with critical needs.
Hurley upon losing her re-election bid in 2012 to Rep. Kent Calfee moved from District 32 to District 21. She obtained a Realtors license and has been selling real estate from District 21. Hurley won the house seat in 2010 in the Republican sweep brought on by Governor Bill Haslam’s election. Hurley garnered a lot of media attention before election as a former Hooter’s waitress and during her term with a speeding traffic stop, a video of a passenger holding her dog out of the window of a moving car, carving her initials in the legislators desk.
With Matlock’s decision to seek re-election, there is speculation that Hurley could move to District 14 and challenge interim State Rep. Jason Zachary in 2016. Hurley was quoted in Vines column saying “There’s always an interest in running for a political seat,”
