The Tennessee House District 26 race has been Hamilton County's all-around surprise political contest. We suggest voters ensure it stays that way by putting political newcomer Jean-Marie Lawrence in the open seat that should already be hers.

Democrats should call the District 26 seat in the General Assembly the one the GOP is trying to steal. Republicans since June have recognized it as the seat they almost let slip from their grasp even before the first primary vote was cast.

June was when seven-term incumbent and unopposed Gerald McCormick, a Republican from Hixson, abruptly dropped out the race past the withdrawal deadline, and the GOP pulled a fast one to ensure there would be a Republican on the ballot. At the time there were two Democratic challengers, and the winner of that primary was Lawrence, a UTC employee and disability activist who herself uses a wheelchair.

"I have been interested in politics my whole life," says the UTC graduate, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees. "Living with a disability means you learn about your rights and how to advocate for them early on."

McCormick was riding high in his bid for re-election until someone realized he'd bought a $487,000 house in Nashville and listed it as his principal residence on the VA loan papers he and his wife signed the year before.

Someone noted that if Nashville was McCormick's primary residence, as he attested in that contract, then he couldn't represent District 26 — Middle Valley, Lakesite, Harrison and much of Hixson — as state qualifying requirements (to which he also attested) demand. Initially, he fought the question over his residency, saying his wife would live in the Nashville home, but he would live in their Big Ridge house.

But days later, McCormick withdrew and said he was taking a job in Nashville. It seemed there was a rub: Which assertion of primary residence was true? The one for voters or the one for his loan? Item 8 on the VA contract states the borrower "shall be in default" if he or any persons give materially false, misleading or inaccurate information to the lender.

Hamilton County's majority Republican election officials put a twist on state law, granting the party seven emergency qualifying days to get another GOP name on the ballot. Republican operative Robin Smith was qualified.

State law lists seven reasons, including death, as acceptable for candidates to withdraw after the deadline. Reason D states: "Withdraws because such candidate is forced to change residence by the candidate's employer for a job-related reason." The Tennessee code further makes it clear that "[c]andidates may withdraw for reasons other than those listed ; however, no additional candidates may qualify."

But McCormick's employer didn't require him to move. McCormick, as a real estate broker of his own company, was his own employer. At least he was until he took the Nashville job. His employer didn't require him to move. He took it upon himself to find a new employer, and apparently did so only after it was revealed that he was caught between two diverging pledges of residency.

Democrats found their backbones and sued, several times, unsuccessfully thanks to years of judges appointed and elected in a red state.

Then there was the Democratic surprise. Lawrence was thought not to actually be running for office anymore because she had moved out of the district, yet her name remained on the ballot. Without campaigning, she bested by 303 votes the other Democratic candidate, David Jones.

Now, Lawrence, 31, is seriously campaigning with a raft of common-sense Democratic ideals.

Calling herself a Democratic socialist, she says she wants the country to be a "democracy that serves all the people." She hopes to see Medicaid expanded but would prefer a universal health plan. She favors gun background checks for sales at gun shows and among friends. She wants the state to have at least a $10 minimum wage. She supports legalization of medical marijuana, and no corporal punishment in schools.

Smith, 55, is a former nurse and a previous chairwoman of the Tennessee Republican Party who now operates a public relations firm that often works with political candidates.

She says with a straight face that Tennessee has "an economy that is the envy of the nation We have the perfect mix of service and manufacturing [industries]. Washington should mimic what we've done here."

Never mind that we're the nation's No. 1 state for bankruptcy, mostly because of health care's devastating havoc on our uninsured and under-insured population. We also have some of the worst health outcomes in the nation, and employers across the state are saying our high school graduates are not jobs ready. And since you can carry a gun almost anywhere here, it's little wonder that our violent crime rate is the nation's fifth highest.

Smith acknowledges that access to health care must improve, but says that Insure Tennessee, the Tennessee pilot proposal for Medicaid expansion that Gov. Bill Haslam negotiated to access federal Affordable Care dollars, "is gone, and it's not coming back I believe we can do some cool stuff if we get a [federal] block grant."

Really? Then what has the GOP super-majority been doing for the past half decade? Haslam was the only Republican who had any — ANY — alternative other than gutting "Obamacare." Smith is equally lacking in imagination on education, calling for an "all-of-the-above approach" that would "not beat down" what works.

Send Robin Smith back to crafting GOP talking points and give Jean-Marie Lawrence a turn at state lawmaking.