Updated: 11/20/2009 2:33:21 PM
Call it a political legacy. The son of Congressman John "Jimmy" Duncan, Jr. will run for Knox County Trustee. John Duncan III, one of Jimmy Duncan's four children, woke up early and made his intentions clear.
Friday was the first day for candidates in Knox County to pick up petitions to run. John Duncan III picked up his petition at 8 a.m. and filed it a short time later.
Jimmy Duncan has served in Congress since 1988, representing Tennessee's 2nd District.
The Trustee's office became the focus of several controversies in the past two years: accusations of phantom employees, an employee fired with evidence he increased his own pay, calls for audits and an as-yet-unresolved TBI investigation, questionable comp time payments, purchases of Sopranos DVDs and other entertainment on the taxpayer dime, and other payroll irregularities.
With all those issues playing out in the public eye, it's likely a challenger to current Republican Trustee Fred Sisk will be on the "clean up the Trustee's Office" platform.
Current Trustee Sisk said he's ready for a challenge in the race. He also said Duncan has previously been a supporter and indicated he'll run on his experience. A full statement is below:
It is my intention to run for Trustee in 2010. As far as John Duncan III, he supported me and served on my host committee in the last election. If he should choose to run I look forward to a vigorous campaign in which we debate the operation of the Trustee's Office for which my 20 years of experience make me uniquely qualified to discuss.
