Mary Mancini says she will seek a third term as chairwoman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, one month after Tennessee Democrats suffered crushing losses in races for U.S. Senate and governor.

Will she have a challenger? That's still unclear.

Former House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, D-Ripley, who ran unsuccessfully in August for the party's nomination for governor, said he hasn't ruled out a run for the chairmanship. But he's leaning against it.

"I'm thinking about it. You never say never," said Fitzhugh, who is now retired from the state legislature. "But right now, no, I think I'm trying to stay involved but not in that particular position."

Vote set for Jan. 12

The Tennessee Democratic Executive Committee will vote Jan. 12 on a party chair to serve the next two years. No other Democrats have said they're seeking the position beside Mancini.

Tennessee Republicans re-elected Scott Golden as their party chairman last week.

Like Fitzhugh, Holly McCall, chairwoman of the Williamson County Democratic Party, isn't ruling out a possible run to lead the state party.

"I've been asked by a number of Democratic leaders in the last week to consider running, and I'll make a decision in the next few days," McCall said.

Mancini, a Nashville progressive activist who was first appointed party chair in 2015, had been undecided on whether she would seek the position again in the days immediately following the Nov. 6 election.

Although she confirmed her intention to seek the position again, she declined to be interviewed about her decision.

Christopher Hale of Rutherford County, who lost in the Democratic primary for Tennessee's 4th Congressional District in August, said he's also considering running for state party chair and would have a decision soon.

"The only metric that matters going forward is whether or not this party can start winning elections again, and for Democrats, the choice is simple: yesterday or tomorrow," Hale said.

"If the past decade is any indication, tomorrow is exactly where we need to go."

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'We've not been very successful'

Fitzhugh, who was crushed by former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, said he's been "approached by some folks, especially some folks that were very instrumental in my campaign" to consider running for chair.

"I think it's very clear that we've not been very successful and we've fallen behind some of our Southern states and we've got a lot to focus on," Fitzhugh said.

Democrats had high hopes for the 2018 election cycle after fielding their best statewide candidates in years in Dean and former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who ran for U.S. Senate.

But Bredesen lost to Republican Marsha Blackburn by 11 percentage points in the Senate race and Dean lost by an even greater 21 percentage points in the race for governor against Republican Bill Lee.

Mancini has sought to put a positive face on events, noting a one-seat gain in the Tennessee House of Representatives, where Republicans still enjoy a supermajority. She's also said Democratic candidates for state House and Senate across the state outperformed previous Democratic performances even though they lost.

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Staff reporter Natalie Allison contributed to this report. Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-826, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twitter @joeygarrison.