Today is election day. Polls are open until 8 p.m.
Elections in Anderson County includes special elections for Oak Ridge City Council, Anderson County Commission, and Anderson County mayor. There are also elections for Anderson County property assessor and Anderson County School Board.
Elections in Roane County include Roane County property assessor, Roane County road superintendent, and Roane County school board.
Myron Iwanski
Buzz Patrick
CLINTON—Anderson County Interim Mayor Myron Iwanski raised slightly more in campaign contributions in the past four months than County Commissioner Buzz Patrick.
Iwanksi raised $7,075 in campaign contributions from April 1 to July 23, and Patrick collected $6,237, according to campaign financial disclosure reports.
Patrick and his wife Laurel loaned the campaign $2,809, making their total receipts higher than Iwanski’s. Iwanski loaned his campaign $1,000.
Republicans outvoted Democrats 2-to-1 during early voting this year, but that could be because some Democrats “crossed over” and voted in state and federal Republican primaries, an election official said Tuesday.
“I would assume that some Democrats crossed over and voted in the Republican primary for U.S. House,” Anderson County Elections Administrator Mark Stephens said.
A new voter photo identification law challenged in court has not caused a significant problem in Anderson County, Election Administrator Mark Stephens said Tuesday.
The new law, which went into effect this year, says registered voters in Tennessee have to show government-issued photo identification to cast ballots at polling places.
Trina Baughn
Chuck Hope
CLINTON—Oak Ridge City Council member Chuck Hope has raised twice as much in campaign contributions since April as his opponent, Trina Baughn, according to reports filed this month.
Hope, appointed to Council last summer after Tom Hayes resigned in June 2011, raised $3,669 in campaign contributions between April 1 and July 23.
Meanwhile, Baughn raised $1,675.
Terry Frank
Warren Gooch
CLINTON—The two candidates for Anderson County mayor have raised and spent a total of about $175,000 since April, possibly making it the most expensive race ever, county officials said.
And the two candidates, Democrat Warren Gooch and Republican Terry Frank, are running to serve only two years, or half a regular term.
“I think that’s unprecedented,” Anderson County Election Commission Administrator Mark Stephens said Tuesday.
The latest financial disclosures filed by the campaigns last week show that Gooch continues to raise and spend more money than Frank. Gooch raised $19,332 in contributions from July 1 to July 23, roughly double Frank’s $9,685.
Jim Hackworth
No issue weighs heavier on people right now than the economy. Tennesseans are angry and fearful. They’re worried the American Dream is disappearing for their families because of the lack of good jobs in our communities.
They’ve seen friends, neighbors, and family members lose jobs through no fault of their own and small businesses shut down because there is no one left to buy their goods and services. People are waiting desperately to hear common sense solutions from the politicians running our state and our country. They are eager to see our East Tennessee conservative values used to make decisions that affect their daily lives.
More than twice as many Republicans as Democrats cast ballots during early voting in Anderson County this year, election officials said Monday.
Early voting ended Saturday, and as of Monday afternoon, the Anderson County Election Commission had counted a total of 6,599 votes.
Republicans cast 4,371 of those votes and Democrats 1,904, said Stephanie Gamble, Anderson County Election Commission deputy administrator.
To the Editor:
I hereby provide my unsolicited endorsement for Chuck Hope as he runs for a full term on City Council.
Why?
Tre Hargett
A record number of Tennessee voters cast ballots early this year, but the number of early votes appeared to be down in Anderson County and possibly Roane County.
As of Wednesday, 223,281 Tennesseans had either voted early or mailed in absentee ballots for the Aug. 2 election, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett announced Thursday.
That’s up from 206,174 during the entire early voting period in August 2008, Hargett said. There were 11,267 people who mailed in absentee ballots in that election.
Terry Frank
Warren Gooch
Warren Gooch, the Democratic candidate for Anderson County mayor, raised more than four times as much in campaign contributions as his Republican opponent, Terry Frank, in the three-month reporting period that ended June 30.
Gooch, an Oak Ridge attorney, reported total contributions of $64,680, while Frank, a Clinton business owner, reported $15,193.
If a $6,479 loan from Frank to her campaign is included, Frank’s total receipts were $21,672, about one-third of Gooch’s.
Gooch also spent about four times as much as Frank—or $60,147 in total disbursements, compared to $14,070 for Frank, the campaign finance reports said.
In his 77-page report, Gooch reported he received 233 donations of more than $100 each. Those donations are called itemized contributions.
In her 17-page report, Frank reported 31 itemized contributions.
To the Editor:
For over 200 years, my family has called Anderson County home. I’ve always been proud of my heritage and where I live, and I want nothing more than to ensure that the place where I was raised remains a secure community for generations to come.
The best way that we can make sure that Anderson County has a thriving economy and can provide jobs for its citizens is to elect representatives who understand that we as residents know better than anyone, especially big government, what this county needs. For this reason, I urge you to examine every candidate regardless of how you have voted in the past.
