AARON JOSEPH CHAPMAN

Current office and 2026 campaign

Withdrew April 8, 2026. Aaron J. Chapman is a Morristown attorney who filed as an Independent for the vacant Circuit Court Judge Part II seat in Tennessee's Third Judicial District — covering Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties — on the August 6, 2026 ballot, then withdrew from the race on April 8, 2026, citing the compressed timeline for winding down his practice to accept the potential interim appointment and campaign for the general election ¹². The seat had been vacated when Judge William E. Phillips II was elevated to the Tennessee Court of Appeals in March 2026; Chapman was one of three initial candidates alongside Rogersville attorney Mark Stapleton (who was subsequently appointed interim judge by Governor Bill Lee) and Greeneville attorney Crystal Jessee (who remains on the August ballot) ². Because the vacancy occurred after the May 2 primary filing deadline, all three candidates ran officially as Independents in the August 6 general election ². Chapman said in his withdrawal statement, "Upon much reconsideration I have found that I simply cannot be in a position to accept a potential appointment to the vacancy, pause my active practice, take further immediate efforts to wind down my practice, and effectively campaign for the August 6 election" ².

Background and education

Chapman has lived in Hamblen County most of his life; he is originally from Russellville and graduated from Morristown East High School with High Honors ¹³. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in Public Administration, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and completed his J.D. at UT's College of Law, where he worked in the Legal Clinic, served as 3rd-year editor for the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy, received the W.K. McClure Fellowship Award for International Studies, and completed coursework in International Trade Law and International Corporate Governance in Rio de Janeiro ¹³. He was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 2009 ⁴.

Career

Chapman founded Lakeway Family Law in Morristown and has practiced across roughly 19 East Tennessee counties over more than 15 years, handling thousands of matters primarily in family law ¹³. He is licensed in all Tennessee courts, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court ¹³. He previously served as City Attorney for Rutledge ¹. Chapman is a Rule 31 civil and family mediator listed with the Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts ⁵.

Office history

Chapman has not held elected office. He chaired the Hamblen County Republican Party from 2017 to 2019 ¹. He served as President of the Hamblen County Bar Association in 2023 and as President of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid of East Tennessee — which serves 26 East Tennessee counties — from 2022 to 2024, and currently sits on the Tennessee Bar Association's Board of Governors as the Third Judicial District's representative in the TBA House of Delegates ¹³.

Family

Chapman has been married to Lindsey since 2011; they have two children and attend First Baptist Church Morristown ¹.

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