Eye doctor announces GOP bid for Senate in Tennessee

Friday, November 3, 2017, Vol. 41, No. 44

MEMPHIS (AP) — A former team ophthalmologist for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of Republican Bob Corker.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Rolando Toyos, the founder and CEO of Toyos Clinics, announced he will join the field seeking the Republican nomination. Other GOP candidates include U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, former Rep. Stephen Fincher and conservative activist Andy Ogles.

Toyos was born to Hispanic immigrants in New York and lived and studied in California and Illinois before starting his first clinic in Jackson, Tennessee. He was the Grizzlies' official ophthalmologist for a decade before moving to Franklin last year.

Toyos was an unsuccessful candidate for the Shelby County Commission in 2010.

Corker announced in September that he wouldn't seek a third Senate term.