Hawks Announces in 76th District GOP candidate David Hawks announced last night at the Tennessee Soybean Festival that he will challenge incumbent Rep. Mark Maddox in the race for the 76th District. Maddox is assistant house majority leader. Hawks, who has been politically active in the local scene of the Republican party for some time, is retired from Goodyear. We've known this has been coming for some time, but he made it official last night. Hawks is running on a pretty traditional platform citing the basics of pro-life (he was endorsed by the Tennessee Right to Lifers) as well as the rest of the standard GOP mission statement. He is adamantly against a state income tax and no driver's licenses or benefits for illegal immigrants. What does this all mean for Maddox who is assistant house majority leader? I'm not sure yet. Maddox said yesterday he is getting a website as well that should be up any time. I don't know a lot about Hawks and I'm interviewing him at 9 a.m. this morning. Basically, I see him at a lot of republican functions and didn't know who he was until this spring when I heard he was entertaining the notion of running. I know Maddox much better and I have found him very approachable. He lets me know when he thinks I'm wrong and I do the same for him. When I don't like something going on in Nashville, I tell him. I think with the anti-incumbency fever that I feel is bubbling under the surface, Maddox needs to run this race very effectively and not fall into any traps that might hurt him in the long run. More on Hawks and Maddox after I talk to them.  ¶ 9/06/2006 04:46:00 AM