Bob Corker didn’t just clear his decks in preparation for his 2006 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat — he sold them.
Nine months after he concluded a single four-year term as Chattanooga’s mayor, Corker sold the majority of his real estate holdings to local investor Henry Luken. No terms were disclosed, but the sale was believed to be the largest transaction of its kind in Chattanooga history.
Corker said he talked with Senate ethics experts in 2005 before deciding to run for the seat being vacated by the retiring Bill Frist. Corker had long-term leases with the Internal Revenue Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, among other federal agencies, but would not be allowed to maintain those leases as a member of the Senate.
Corker was elected to the Senate in November 2006, defeating Democrat Harold Ford Jr. of Memphis. Corker served two six-year terms, then chose not to stand for re-election in 2018.