Scoop: Caleb Hemmer announces bid for state House

Health care executive Caleb Hemmer is entering the race for the open District 59 state House seat, he confirms to Axios.

• Incumbent state Rep. Jason Potts said last year he won't seek reelection, and redistricting has resulted in a completely new district.
• The new seat stretches from Bellevue in the southwestern part of Davidson County to Antioch in the southeast. Affluent neighborhoods Belle Meade, Oak Hill and Forest Hills are also included.

Why it matters: Nashville Democrats are trying to maintain their stranglehold on legislative seats.

• Hemmer works in corporate development at the firm American Health Partners, serves on the Metro fair board and is the brother-in-law of state Rep. Bo Mitchell.
• "We need more effective leaders in state government who put people above politics so they can have a true dialogue and make effective changes for the people they represent," Hemmer says.

The latest: Conservative organizer Michelle Foreman and Poplar Hill Realty president Wyatt Rampy have picked up election papers to run as Republicans, according to state campaign finance reports.

• In addition to Hemmer, public defender Jeff Preptit is also running as a Democrat.