Election Commission votes against Highlander’s ballot name challenge against Christian-Lowe

Donna Christian-Lowe (left) and Hamilton County Commissioner Dr. Steve Highlander (right) at a Hamilton County Election Commission over Highlander’s challenge of Christian-Lowe name choice on the ballot.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- Did a candidate for a seat on the Hamilton County Commission attempt to gain an advantage on the ballot?

That was the question in front of the Hamilton County Election Commission Wednesday morning.

Commissioner Dr. Steve Highlander filed a complaint against his opponent, Donna Christian-Lowe, over the name she would like to place on the ballot.

His representative, Dalton Temple, said that Christian-Lowe shouldn’t get to include a hyphen in her last name on the ballot, which would allow her to be placed above him on the ballot in the upcoming county elections.

He argued that she hadn’t consistently used the hyphenated version of her name, which includes her maiden and husband’s last names.

Temple said, ” We do not believe that using her name, her surname that is hyphenated, is what is right in this manner and has been used as a last name the majority of her career.”

Lowe says that she was not trying to be misleading, saying that has frequently used the hyphen throughout her professional career.

Christian-Lowe: I have done nothing misleading… and this is not about grammar or grammatics. It is about a name that I have used and have proven to use. That is it.”

The Election commission ruled in favor of Christian-Lowe, meaning she will keep her hyphenated name on the ballot.

The two candidates will face off in the District 9 Republican Primary on May 5