Oak Ridge Today

Roane County Candidate Forum is Thursday in Oak Ridge

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The Roane County Candidate Forum will be Thursday at Oak Ridge High School.

Candidates who have opponents in campaigns for county executive, trustee, county clerk, register of deeds, and Roane County Commission District 4 have been invited to speak and answer questions, a press release said.

Candidates who do not have opposition in campaigns for circuit court clerk, sheriff, county attorney, Roane County School Board District 3/4, and Oak Ridge Board of Education have been invited to be introduced, the press release said. [Read more…]

Anderson County candidate forum is Tuesday

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The Anderson County Candidate Forum will be held at the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater on Tuesday.

The forum is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 10.

Candidates who have opponents and are running for sheriff, trustee, mayor, Circuit Court clerk, and Anderson County Commission District 6 and 7 have been invited to speak and answer questions, a press release said.

Candidates who have no opposition and are running for county clerk, register of deeds, road superintendent, Anderson County Board of Education District 6 and 7, County Commission District 8, and Oak Ridge Board of Education have been invited to be introduced. [Read more…]

Updated: Frank, Barker, Lynch win Republican primaries

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Terry-Frank-Pain-Clinic-Zoning-Resolution

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank (Submitted photo)

Note: This story was last updated at 9 a.m. May 2.

CLINTON—Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank narrowly won the Republican Party primary on Tuesday, beating Anderson County Commissioner Steve Emert by 153 votes, according to unofficial results.

Frank, a former small business operator who was first elected in August 2012, had 4,771 votes, compared to 4,618 for Emert. That was a slim margin of 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent.

Frank has served one special two-year term as mayor and one full four-year term. There was no Democratic Party candidate for mayor in the Tuesday primary, meaning Frank won’t have a challenger on the ballot in the August 2 county general election and is essentially assured of serving again.

Emert is a small business owner who has served as Anderson County Commission chair. Like a previous candidate for mayor, former Tennessee Representative Jim Hackworth, Emert had emphasized what he characterized as dysfunction, including lawsuits, in the Anderson County Courthouse under Frank. Among other pledges, he had promised to restore civility to the county government.

But that and other campaign issues weren’t enough to give Emert the win, even if it might have helped to keep the election close. Emert initially had a narrow 63-vote lead after early and absentee voting results were counted. But the lead flipped when Election Day results started coming in from across Anderson County. [Read more…]

Races on the ballot today include mayor, sheriff, others

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Note: This story was last updated at 11:50 a.m.

Among the races on the ballot in the primary election in Anderson County today (Tuesday, May 1) are mayor, sheriff, trustee, county clerk, circuit court clerk, and register of deeds.

At least three of the races—mayor, county clerk, and register of deeds—could be decided in the Republican Party primary today because there are no Democrats running for those offices. That’s assuming there are no write-in candidates for those races in the August 2 county general election.

The Republican candidates for mayor are Terry Frank, the incumbent, and Anderson County Commissioner Steve Emert. The GOP candidates for county clerk are Jeff Cole, the incumbent, and his challenger, businesswoman Leesa Arowood. Tim Shelton is running for re-election as register of deeds, and he is being challenged in the Republican primary by Rocky Top City Manager Michael Foster.

There are no Democrats on today’s ballot for circuit court clerk, but there is a write-in candidate who plans to run as a Democrat in the August election. There is also a Republican write-in candidate in the race. It initially appeared this election could be decided today, but it now appears there could be the Republican nominee, either incumbent William Jones or former mayor Rex Lynch, plus two possible write-in candidates. [Read more…]

Tonight: Republican Party candidates forum in Oak Ridge

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Anderson County Republican Party Primary Candidates Forum April 3 2018

The Anderson County Republican Party has a candidates forum in Oak Ridge tonight (Tuesday, April 3).

The forum will feature candidates for these seven Anderson County offices: mayor, sheriff, circuit court clerk, clerk, trustee, register of deeds, and road superintendent. The candidates are running in the May 1 Anderson County Republican Party primary.

The forum will start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 3, at the Wildcat Den at 102 Robertsville Road in Oak Ridge. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for light refreshments, seating, and mingling with Republican primary candidates, a press release said. [Read more…]

Reminder: Roane candidates at election forum tonight

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Roane County candidates have been invited to an election forum in Oak Ridge tonight (Tuesday night).

Candidates who have been invited include those in contested races in Roane County for county executive, sheriff, circuit court clerk, circuit court judge, public defender, and Roane County School Board District 3/4, which includes Oak Ridge, have been invited to speak and answer questions.

Unopposed candidates for county attorney, county clerk, trustee, register of deeds, chancellor, criminal court judge, district attorney general, general sessions judges, and County Commission District 4 will be introduced.

The forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge. It starts at 7 p.m. in the City Room (A-111) at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge. The college is at 701 Briarcliff Avenue. [Read more…]

Anderson County primary deadline Thursday at noon

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Information from WYSH Radio

The deadline to qualify as a candidate in any of the races on the ballot for Anderson County’s May 6 primaries is at noon Thursday.

Here is a look at who has qualified so far:

  • So far, only incumbent Judge Don Elledge has qualified to run for his seat as criminal and circuit judge.
  • Five people have qualified to run in the hotly-contested Juvenile Court judge primaries. Two Democrats—J. Michael Clement and David Dunkirk—are seeking the nomination, while three Republicans—Victoria Bannach, Lauren Biloski, and Brian Hunt—have qualified to seek their party’s nod to run for the seat in the August general election.
  • Brandon Fisher, the current Juvenile Court judge, had qualified to run for the Democratic nomination for chancellor, a seat coming open due to the retirement of William Lantrip, but he announced just a couple of weeks ago that he will be dropping out of the race to join a company in Pennsylvania. On the Republican side, Mike Farley and Phil Harber have qualified to appear on the May ballot. [Read more…]