Barker, a Democrat, has not held public elected office before. She is supported, said several people familiar with the campaign, by retiring state representative Phillip Pinion and the Obion County Democratic establishment, including U.S. Rep. John Tanner.
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Tennessee law provides for the period to file for election to replace an incumbent to open up for seven days after the withdrawal of the incumbent.
The deadline to submit a petition is Thursday, April 17.
Pinion said he signed the documents on Sunday and was expected to have them filed in election commission offices in Union City, Dyersburg and Tiptonville before the noon Thursday deadline.
The 77th District is composed of the northern half of Dyer County and Obion and Lake counties.
If she files, Barker will face Obion County commissioner Jerry Grady and Tiptonville physician Rosaire "Ross" Dubrule. Dubrule is scheduled for a federal trial in Memphis in July after he was indicted for prescription fraud.
Barker is related to the Barker Brothers waste management concern in Troy, which has the contract for Dyer County's trash pickup.
She is also one of threes delegates in the Eighth Congressional District for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.
Pinion told the Union City Daily Messenger newspaper on Thursday he would not name the person he would support, and referred to an announcement in the Friday edition of the newspaper.
Barker was unable to be contacted on Wednesday to comment on her possible candidacy.
The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 7.

and Mccain will still win.......
abitconfused,
we are under terrorist attack. it's called the bush admin.
he did a mighty fine job of transferring the US treasury wealth to the private sector....'mission accomplished'
do you think that i want to pay more taxes? no one does. we have to finally face up to the cost of the bush admin and get our house in order. the US is bankrupt, OK?
Bush has borrowed more foreign money than all the previous 42 presidents combined.
$12 billion a month for an illegal war is beyond stupid. we scream like banshees at the thought of domestic welfare for the needy and less fortunate, yet we are a bottomless pit for an oil rich iraq for whom we ask nothing and serve up our troops on a silver platter.
for those that think that we are not being taxed now, just consider that since bush's war of stupidity, the cost of gas has more than doubled.
yep, thank dubya when you fill up, OK?
we have wide open borders, military and national guard units depleted and without adequate equipment to help us in emergencies, and military units lacking in equipment to train adequately on prior to deployment. 1000+ people came across the border last night. do you know them or their intent? they are not all mexicans, you do know that right? do you still feel safe?
remember, he is not finished with us yet. he has nine months to inflict even more damage and america is falling apart because we have been neglected for 7 years.
enjoy!
the recession will become worse, huh? who got us in this mess? thank you bush and the gop (group of perjurers) for all that you have done.
now he wants us to spend our way out of a recession. Excuse me, but didn't spending money that we don't have get us in this mess?
the US government is borrowing money, yet again, from china, so that we can go out and buy chinese made products.
who is this helping? Looks like china to me!
bush taxes us on the lay-a-way plan.
we will be paying for decades for his stupidity.
mccain 'i want to stay in iraq 100 years' is bush3.
in the last 5 years, we have spent $24 billion for iraqi troops that don't fight.
the iraqi government is running a $60+ Billion surplus ($20+ Billion being held in US banks alone), while americans go deeper into debt for bush's ego.
bush is now playing 'run out the clock' and leave this mess for the next president.
it will be so nice to get a thinking man back into the white house again.
a magna cum laude man, instead of a 'C' student.
If Obama or Clinton become president our "recession" will become worse. They want to tax the working class to death.
obama will be president!
mccain is better
Clinton is good choice.