Phil Yager
Note: This story was last updated at 12:05 a.m.
Phil Yager beat two other candidates to win a seat on Anderson County Commission in District 8 in Oak Ridge on Thursday.
The special election for the District 8 seat was held along with the county general election and state and federal primaries on Thursday, August 4. District 8 includes the Emory Valley, Hendrix Creek, and Woodland voting precincts in Oak Ridge.
Yager finished with 542 votes, compared to 239 for Angeleque McNutt and 227 for Myra Mansfield, according to unofficial results posted on the Anderson County Election Commission website.
The final results from all 27 precincts, plus early, absentee, and write-in ballots, were posted at 10:41 p.m. Thursday.
Yager campaigned to fill the rest of the term of former Anderson County Commissioner Robin Biloski, who resigned in August 2015 when she and her husband Bill moved to Florida. He will serve until August 2018, when all 16 county commission seats will be up for election.
McNutt was appointed in August 2015, after Biloski resigned, to fill the District 8 seat for about one year, until the special election this Thursday. McNutt ran for re-election on Thursday to the final two years of the term. Mansfield, who had campaigned for the seat before, both in the 2014 election and in the 2015 appointment, also sought the seat.
About half the votes came during early voting before Election Day. Yager also led in early voting, with 340 early votes, according to the unofficial results. McNutt had 129, and Mansfield had 114.
Yager thanked Tom Beehan, Kay Brookshire, and Gene Caldwell for helping him with his campaign, serving as his mentors.
“They advised me every step of the way,” Yager said.
In his first run for an elected office, Yager worked hard and knocked on a lot of doors, and he said the campaign was fulfilling and he enjoyed it more than he expected to.
“It’s an experience that I’m glad I had,” Yager said. “I could never have met this many people any other way.”
He thanked the District 8 voters for putting their trust in him. He said residents had expressed concerns about local job opportunities for high school graduates, and he told them about a new Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) center being built in Clinton. The redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall was also a top priority for voters, although Yager said he heard those concerns mostly before activity starting picking up in July, after the 58-acre site was sold to RealtyLink, a development company based in Greenville, South Carolina.
“I congratulate Mr. Yager on his win,” McNutt said Thursday night. “I wish him the best of luck. I’m extremely proud of the support I received and the race that I ran. Serving on Commission has been a memorable experience, and I look forward to going back to work at Rainbow Florist. As a small business owner, I know the importance of community involvement and will continue to be a voice for my neighbors.”
There are two seats per county commission district. Myron Iwanski is the other District 8 commissioner. Each commissioner normally serves a four-year term.
In other results, Dail R. Cantrell, an incumbent, beat Scott Daugherty, a challenger, for Anderson County School Board, Third District, with 654 votes to 392.
Andy McKamey upset Rickey Rose, another incumbent, for Anderson County School Board, Fifth District, with 243 votes to 204.
Democrat Michael McKamey, who had dropped out of the race for Tennessee House of Representatives, District 33, received 618 votes. That was more than the write-in Democratic candidate, Herman Collins, who entered the race after McKamey dropped out. Collins earned 553 votes Thursday, but it wasn’t enough. He had to win more votes than McKamey to advance to challenge John Ragan, a Republican, in the November 8 election. District 33 includes most of Anderson County.
Some of those on the ballot were unopposed, including Shain Vowell, who ran to fill the unexpired term of Zach Bates in Anderson County Commission, District 4, and these incumbents: Anderson County Property Assessor John K. Alley Jr.; Chairman John S. Burrell, Anderson County School Board, District 4; and Glenda J. Langenberg, Anderson County School Board, District 8.
Among the elections that will be on the November 8 ballot are the state and federal general elections and Oak Ridge municipal elections.
You can see the final unofficial election results, which include the Democratic and Republican primaries for U.S. House of Representatives, Third District, here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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