Mayor Candidate Threat Allegations
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – A Hamilton County Democratic mayoral candidate is facing scrutiny over allegations he sent threatening text messages to multiple school board members in October of 2025.
According to a police report and statements referenced in testimony, the messages came during a period of tension involving a Centerstone mental health services contract and broader discussions about student mental health resources.
School Board Chairman Joe Smith also said the situation became personal for Mark Herndon following the August 2025 death of his son, after which Herndon became more involved in school board meetings advocating for mental health services.
Smith described the messages in testimony as deeply concerning, saying:
“I am so sorry for his loss, and I can’t imagine losing a son. I cannot begin to imagine what that would be like, but it doesn’t make it OK to make those kinds of threats. He was probably without question in my decade of service the most serious threat I’ve ever received.”
Smith also testified about the content of the messages, saying “that was frightening and I don’t recall the exact words of the text but he alluded to us being lynched and a millstone tied around our neck and thrown in the river and now he wants the Hamilton County community to trust him to be our mayor.”
Smith said several Republican school board members later received messages during that same period that were attributed to Herndon.
Herndon acknowledged sending the message and said it came during a difficult period following the death of his son. He said:
“I did… I did send that message, and I do yeah when you look back hindsight always 20/20 you know and for those of those that don’t know that was a very difficult time in our family’s life. We had just lost our son just months before that, actually 10 days before the school board decided to take mental health services out of our school system.”
He also addressed his wording in the message, saying “I did use a word that I regret using you know when I look back and I and I see the history with that word in this country and that’s a word that I wish I hadn’t used. I was a father that was so disheartened.”
Chairman Smith says the board opted to not press charges and has called the alleged messages unacceptable saying this kind of behavior has no place in Hamilton County or the country, and that this candidate should suspend his campaign immediately.
Herndon says the texts quote “reference to a scriptural concept that we hold ourselves to” and says, “he was trying to make that correlation with them.”
