Majority of Registered Voters Stay Home This Election

The low voter turnout that plagued early voting in Jefferson County continued through Election Day, with a dismal final vote count of 2370, which is just around 5% of registered voters in Jefferson County. One driving factor that likely kept voters from the polls was the lack of hotly contested local elections. Neither Jefferson County Property Assessor Gass , with 2008 votes, nor Jefferson County Highway Superintendent Tipton, with 1926 votes, were challenged in Thursday’s General Election. On the State Level, only District 11 Representative Jeremy Faison had competition and Faison came away with a sound victory, garnering 720 votes to opponent Mike McCarter’s 171 in Jefferson County. Faison secured the win by carrying the vote in Jefferson , Cocke and Greene Counties. District 17 House Representative Farmer and Senator for District 8 Frank Niceley were not opposed, though they brought in 891 and 1584 courtsey votes respectively.

Despite the fact that voters largely sat this election out, there were some races of significance to Jefferson County residents. Along with Constable races in every district, there were also seats on the Road Commission that were up for grabs. The District 2 Road Commissioner race was the only one contested. Elmore came away with the win with 421 votes to Langston’s 383. He will join Smith for District 3 and Turner for District 4 on the Road Commission. Contested Districts for Constable races were Districts 1, 3, 4, 6 and 8. Colbert ( District1 1), Thurman ( District 2), Large ( District 3), Gass ( District 4), Thompson ( District 5) Baldwin ( District 6), Solomon ( District 7), Justice ( District 8), Cureton (District 9), Kelley (District 10) were elected to represent their districts as Constable. The race for District 6 Constable seat saw only a two count difference in Baldwin and Wilson. According to Jefferson County Election Administrator Charles Gibson, the only provisional ballot in this election cycle was not cast in District 6 and the numbers for that challenge would not change.

Arguably one of the most impacting races of this cycle was that of the Jefferson County School Board. Three of the seven board seats were on the ballot, representing one the the largest shifts on the Board in several elections. Only one incumbent, Lowery, was on the ballot and he and three others, Solomon, Fair and McCampbell were seeking two seats. Former School Board Member Solomon and newcomer Fair came away with the highest vote, with Solomon tallying 496 and Fair 261, and the pair will represent District 2 for the next four years. On the other side of the County, Cox and Ealy-Mantooth went head to head to fill a seat in District 4 that will be vacated by a retiring Judy Cavanah. Cox got the nod from the voters, taking away 293 votes to his opponent’s160 and will take his seat on the Board this fall. This election represents a more than 40% change on the School Board and these newly seated members will come on board with a building project in the works and the challenge of retention or replacement of the Director of Schools during their tenure.

On the National level, Congressmen Roe and Duncan heavily carried Jefferson County. Jefferson County voted to retain Supreme Court Justices and Judges with the various Courts of Appeals. Democrat Marjorie Ramsey will face incumbent, Republican Jeremy Faison in a bid for House Representative Seat for District 11 during the Presidential election cycle in November.