Voters in Oliver Springs have rejected a liquor referendum that would have allowed retail package stores to sell alcoholic beverages.
The proposal failed 488-520, according to official certified results released after the Nov. 6 election. That’s a 48 percent to 52 percent vote margin.
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s election remained close on an Oliver Springs liquor referendum and the race for a fifth seat on the Norris City Council, and it wasn’t clear how provisional ballots could change the final vote tallies.
Oliver Springs voters appeared to have rejected the liquor referendum, with 486 voting yes and 519 voting “no†in Anderson and Roane counties. The referendum would allow package stores to sell alcoholic beverages.
But there are about 50 provisional ballots in Anderson County and an unknown number in Roane County, election officials said Wednesday. It wasn’t clear how many of those were from Oliver Springs, or how the ballots and a post-election audit might affect the final vote when results are certified Nov. 19.
Results in the race for four of the five seats on Norris City Council seemed clear. Chris Mitchell, Bill Grieve Jr., Loretta A. Painter, and Jack Black all received more than 500 votes, according to the unofficial results.
But the write-in race between four candidates competing for a fifth seat was close. York Haverkamp had 166 write-in votes and Eugene F. Oates had 154.
Anderson County Election Commission Administrator Mark Stephens said the write-in ballots will have to be checked vote by vote.
“We have really never had to do this in the past,†he said.
In other races in Anderson County, Steven R. Emert received the most votes in the special election to represent District 3 on Anderson County Commission. That district includes Andersonville, Fairview, Norris, and Glen Alpine. Former commissioner Johnny Alley resigned from the seat after he was elected Anderson County property assessor in the Aug. 2 election.
Also Tuesday, Shain Vowell and Andrew Howard won two seats on Lake City City Council, Vowell with 231 votes and Howard with 191.
Most of the other results mirrored results in larger regions, with the exception of the presidential race. Republican Bob Corker beat Democrat Mark E. Clayton in the U.S. Senate race, Republican Chuck Fleischmann defeated Democrat Mary M. Headrick in the battle to represent Tennessee’s Third District in the U.S. House of Representatives, and Republican Dennis Powers trounced Independent Virgil Kidwell.
Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, pictured at right, and Liz Ragan, his wife, celebrate the legislator’s re-election to the Tennessee House at the Buffalo Mountain Grille on Tuesday night.
It was a good night for incumbents in five local races in Oak Ridge and the Tennessee House and Senate. With one exception, they were all re-elected.
Chuck Hope and Charlie Hensley had hundreds of votes to spare as they easily won re-election to Oak Ridge City Council. Keys Fillauer and Angi Agle, the two incumbents on the Oak Ridge Board of Education, also coasted to victory.
Tennessee Rep. John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican, won a narrower victory over former Rep. Jim Hackworth, a Clinton Democrat. Ragan received 699 more votes than Hackworth, according to unofficial results. He finished ahead by 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent.
The one newcomer elected Tuesday was Trina Baughn. She will join Hope and Hensley to serve on Council.
Gone will be incumbent Ellen Smith, who was soundly defeated. Hope and Baughn each finished ahead of Smith by more than 2,000 votes, according to unofficial results in Anderson and Roane counties.
Baughn first campaigned for a City Council seat in an August special election, when she lost to Hope. Hope was appointed to Council last summer after former member Tom Hayes resigned.
Baughn and Hope both said the August special election helped prepare them for Tuesday’s municipal election.
Andrew McCulloch, right, signs in at the Midtown Community Center polling station on Tuesday. Also pictured are poll workers Margaret Terrell, left, and Jim Young.
The training paid off. Hope finished first Tuesday with 6,887 votes, and Baughn was second with 6,739, according to the unofficial results.
Baughn, a communications professional, credited hard work and the efforts of some 20 to 50 volunteers making phone calls and visiting voters.
“We knocked on doors, and we went to the voters,†said Baughn, who is perhaps best known for her newspaper columns and work challenging city and school system spending. “The supporters that I have are elated that I won.â€
Top priorities for the new council member are controlling spending, lowering the property tax rate, and reducing the city’s debt.
Hope, owner of Chuck’s Car Care, was not available for comment late Tuesday night.
It was a disappointing night for Smith, who served one term on City Council. She collected 4,624 votes.
“The results are surprising, and I don’t understand them,†said Smith, a research staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “I was pretty roundly defeated.â€
A fifth candidate, business executive and Oak Ridge planning commissioner Kelly Callison, finished fourth in the City Council race, with 5,450 votes.
David Hughes, left, supports presidential candidate Gary Johnson and Sherry Bath supports Oak Ridge Board of Education candidate Keys Fillauer at Midtown Community Center on Tuesday.
In the school board race, Agle and Fillauer both trounced Leonard Abbatiello, a former Oak Ridge City Council member, by more than 2,000 votes.
“I’m thankful that the people of Oak Ridge put the priority on students because that was the focus of my campaign and the focus of Keys’ campaign,†said Agle, who was battling for a third term.
Like Baughn, Agle credited door-to-door campaigning for her win, as well as her daily work during early voting and the newspaper articles she’s written during the past few years.
Now, she said, the first priority of the school board is to select a new superintendent, possibly on Dec. 8. Tom Bailey, the current superintendent, is retiring at the end of the year.
Agle said she also wants to continue making improvements in school curricula and student performance.
It was the second time Ragan and Hackworth ran against each other in the state’s 33rd District, which includes most of Anderson County. Ragan beat Hackworth in the 2010 election.
Jake Phillips supports Tennessee Rep. John Ragan at the Midtown Community Center polling station on Tuesday.
This year’s contest between the two men was one of a half-dozen key races in the Tennessee House of Representatives, and it was expected to help Republicans gain a supermajority.
“I knew it was a close race,†Ragan said in a Tuesday night celebration at Buffalo Mountain Grille in Oak Ridge. “It was a hard-fought race.â€
Ragan, a retired Air Force pilot, said Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly have cut spending and taxes, and created a more job-friendly environment. Jobs and education will remain top priorities for him in the upcoming legislative session, Ragan said.
Another local incumbent who was re-elected was Oak Ridge City Judge Robert A. McNees III. He had no opposition.
Neither did Tennessee Sen. Ken Yager, who was re-elected in the 12th Senatorial District. Yager’s district includes Roane, Morgan, Rhea, Scott, Campbell, and Fentress counties.
In other elections, the vote on a liquor referendum to allow package stores to sell alcoholic beverages in Oliver Springs appeared to have been rejected, with 486 voting yes and 519 voting “no” in Anderson and Roane counties.
Three-quarters of Clinton voters agreed to move the city’s general elections from December of odd-numbered years to November of even-numbered years, when they will coincide with state and federal elections.
Republican Kent Calfee defeated Democrat Jack W. McNew by a 68.6 percent to 26.7 margin in Roane County for a chance to represent the 32nd District in the Tennessee House, according to unofficial Roane County results. The district includes Roane County and part of Loudon County.
Unofficial results showed Calfee, who beat the incumbent, Julia Hurley, in the August primary, had an even higher victory margin in Loudon County: 72.4 percent to 20.8.
Here are highlights of Tuesday’s unofficial results in Anderson and Roane counties:
Oak Ridge City Council
Hope—6,887
Baughn—6,739
Hensley—6,301
Callison—5,450
Smith—4,624
Oak Ridge Board of Education
Agle—7,738
Fillauer—7,495
Abbatiello—4,988
Tennessee House of Representatives, 33rd District:
Ragan, Oak Ridge Republican—12,825 (51.4 percent)
Hackworth, Clinton Democrat—12,126 (48.6 percent)
Oliver Springs liquor referendum (To allow retail package stores to sell alcoholic beverages in the city of Oliver Springs):
Yes—486
No—519
Clinton charter question (To move Clinton general elections from December of odd-numbered years to November of even-numbered years):
For—2,556 (75.7 percent)
Against—819 (24.3 percent)
Note: This story has been corrected to show new vote totals for Ragan and Hackworth.
Rex Sanders, left, picks up his voting machine code before casting a ballot at the Midtown Community Center on Tuesday afternoon. Also pictured is poll worker Dave Anderson.
Note: This story was last updated at 9:37 p.m.
Voting results are being posted on the Anderson County Election Commission website.
The results below, which include early voting and absentee ballots, will be updated, and we’ll post the new numbers here as we can.
The following results include 26 of 28 precincts in Anderson County. We’ll add Roane County election results as we can. The early voting and absentee ballot results in Roane County don’t contradict the current Anderson County results in the Oak Ridge City Council or Board of Education elections, or the Oliver Springs liquor referendum.
Oak Ridge City Council (five seats):
Trina Baughn—5,842 (23 percent)
Kelly Callison—4,641 (18.3 percent)
L.C. “Charlie” Hensley—5,298 (20.9 percent)
Charles J. “Chuck” Hope Jr.—5,718 (22.5 percent)
Ellen Smith—3,909 (15.4 percent)
Oak Ridge Board of Education (two seats):
Leonard Abbatiello—4,287 (24.9 percent)
Angi Agle—6,603 (38.4 percent)
Keys Filauer—6,319 (36.7 percent)
Tennessee House of Representatives, 33rd District:
John Ragan, Oak Ridge Republican—12,810 (51.4 percent)
Jim Hackworth, Clinton Democrat—12,114 (48.6 percent)
Oliver Springs liquor referendum (To allow retail package stores to sell alcoholic beverages in the city of Oliver Springs):
Yes—360 (50.2 percent)
No—357 (49.8 percent)
Clinton charter question (To move Clinton general elections from December of odd-numbered years to November of even-numbered years):
For—2,556 (75.7 percent)
Against—819 (24.3 percent)
