County Mayor candidate Weston Wamp said the Matt Hullander campaign is using a consultant "who uses nasty tactics."
The Hullander campaign on its first quarter report said it had paid Chip Saltsman $5,000 for consulting work to date.
Mr. Wamp said, "This morning the Free Press editorial page reported that one of my opponents sent the message to voters that he plans to go low by hiring the most notorious negative campaign consultant in Tennessee history.
"But don’t worry, our issue focused campaign will win the day.
"The last time Chip Saltsman was hired to manage a Republican primary campaign in Hamilton County, his nasty tactics backfired and his candidate received just 15 percent of the vote in 2018."
The Hullander campaign had no comment.