Weston Wamp will oppose Fleischmann again in U.S. House race

Weston Wamp announced on Monday that he will oppose U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann again.

Wamp, the son of former Congressman Zach Wamp, is a Chattanooga Republican who ran against Fleischmann in the 2012 election. Fleischmann is now in his second term, and he represents Tennessee’s Third District, which includes Oak Ridge.

Fleischmann replaced Zach Wamp, Weston’s father, in 2010, when Zach Wamp unsuccessfully ran for Tennessee governor.

In a campaign announcement, Weston Wamp took aim at federal legislators in general and Fleischmann in particular.

“This Congress is the least productive and least popular in our nation’s history, and for three years now, Chuck Fleischmann has simply gone along with the flow,” Wamp said. “He has done nothing to change Washington, nor has he been effective as a legislator on behalf of our district. Fleischmann and the 113th Congress have given up on our country and failed to govern. The people of the Third District deserve much better, and I will work tirelessly to prove to voters that I will be more accountable, more transparent, and more innovative than the status quo.”

Fleischmann’s campaign responded quickly.

“Of course, Weston Wamp is running,” Fleischmann campaign spokesman Jordan Powell said. “He never stopped running after the 2012 election—except for the few months he thought about running in another Tennessee congressional district. He comes from a family consumed with politics and is simply continuing that tradition; his announcement comes as no surprise.”

Wamp said he won Hamilton County, the largest county in the Third District, in a three-way race against Fleischmann and dairy executive Scottie Mayfield in the August 2012 congressional primary.

The Third District seat has been held by Republicans since Zach Wamp was elected in 1994.

Weston Wamp, 26, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that he is married and more mature than he was when he first ran against Fleischmann two years ago.

“After months of consideration, my wife Shelby and I feel a responsibility to offer the people of the Third District a choice as to who will represent them in Washington,” Wamp said in his campaign announcement. “As Americans, we have no control over our government if we don’t have a choice at the ballot box, and I believe voters deserve a choice.

“America is too great for this Congress to continue to divide our nation and avoid their responsibilities. I want to give the Third District an independent conservative voice and a reason to believe our government can still work and serve the people.”

Wamp said he and Shelby will spend the next six and a half months traveling the Third District and sharing their ideas and vision for the future of the country.

Powell said Fleischmann was re-elected in 2012 to serve the people of Tennessee’s Third District, “and in the last year he has done that.

“Whether it has been the 264 events, meetings, and town halls he held and attended, the 242,872 responses, calls, and letters he sent to constituents throughout East Tennessee, his consistent fight against Obamacare, or his 100 percent pro-life voting record, Chuck has kept his word and served his constituents,” Powell said. “He will continue to do the job he was elected to do and is confident the voters will see that.”

In his campaign announcement, Wamp said he is in his fourth year as a founding director and director of communications at Lamp Post Group, a venture incubator starting new small businesses and creating jobs in Chattanooga. He and Shelby live in Lookout Valley.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Note: This story was updated at 10:03 a.m. Jan. 14.