State Representative Tony Shipley recently announced his re-election bid for a third term as Tennessee’s second district representative. Shipley, who kicked off his re-election bid Thursday, will be running against former Kingsport alderman Ben Mallicote (Malla-coat) for the GOP nomination, and already the race is heating up. Mallicote recently issued a statement claiming Shipley has ignored recent invitations to debate him publicly and has only retreated to talking with his small group of supporters. Shipley says these allegations are not true: “The fact of the matter is that it is a Republican Primary… I haven’t ignored them I simply told people that once the primary is over I will be more than happy to engage in a constructive debate with the Democratic nominee for the House seat.” Shipley also says he plans to debate Mallicote next week during a Kingsport Republican Women’s meeting. (hra)