Here are the unofficial election results for the contested races in the Democratic and Republican primaries in Anderson County on Tuesday. The results include all 27 precincts, early voting, and absentee ballots.
Anderson County mayor—Republican primary
Anderson County chancellor—Republican primary
Nicki Cantrell, second from right, who is running unopposed in the Aug. 7 general election after winning the Republican primary on Tuesday, will become Anderson County’s first female chancellor. Also pictured at right is Michael Farley, one of her two Republican opponents. The three GOP candidates for Juvenile Court judge are also pictured. From left they are Vickie Bannach, Lauren Biloski, and Brian Hunt, the winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary.
Terry Frank
Note: This story was last updated at 4:10 p.m. May 7.
Primary Winners: Frank, Cantrell, Hunt, Lay, Clement
One is Anderson County’s first female mayor. The other will become the county’s first female chancellor.
The two candidates—Terry Frank and Nicki Cantrell—beat their opponents by significant margins in the Republican primary on Tuesday. Both said their victories were based in large part on running positive campaigns.
Cantrell’s victory over Clinton attorney and City Judge Michael Farley, who had the support of many other lawyers, appeared to be the big upset of the night in what had been the most heated race, with the two candidates clashing over their courtroom experience and trading accusations of false claims and “mudslinging.”
Zach Bates
Both were running to replace the current chancellor, William Lantrip, who is retiring at the end of June after 25 years on the bench. The chancellor hears cases in Chancery Court ranging from divorces and adoptions to lawsuits and contract disputes, but can also sometimes hear Criminal Court cases, sit as the Circuit Court judge, and hear Juvenile Court appeals.
“Nobody believed we could do this,†Cantrell’s husband Dail Cantrell said Tuesday night. “We refused to run a negative campaign and got the support of the people.â€
Nicki Cantrell won by about 900 votes, collecting 3,895 votes to Farley’s 2,979, according to unofficial results with all 27 precincts reporting. That’s roughly a 54 percent to 41 percent margin.
A third candidate, Republican Phil Harber, who did not appear to campaign as hard as either Farley or Cantrell, received 368 votes. [Read more…]
Terry Frank
Zach Bates
CLINTON—She says she’s kept her promise to protect Anderson County from higher taxes and worked to make government more efficient while improving customer service.
He says the county needs a more targeted approach to bringing in new retail and rebuilding the housing market.
The two candidates, incumbent Terry Frank and her challenger Zach Bates, face off in the Republican primary in Anderson County on Tuesday.
Frank was first elected in a special election in August 2012. She is the first female mayor of Anderson County and running for her first four-year term. She is completing the unexpired term of former mayor Rex Lynch, who resigned in January 2011.
Bates is a one-term Anderson County Commissioner who is not seeking re-election to that seat. [Read more…]
The local AARP chapter has organized an event today that will allow voters to meet candidates for Anderson County mayor and sheriff.
It starts at 1 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Senior Center. Those who attend are encouraged to bring a snack.
Candidates for mayor include the incumbent, Terry Frank, a Republican first elected in August 2012; her GOP opponent, Commissioner Zach Bates; and Democrat Jim Hackworth, a former state representative.
[Read more…]
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, center, gives an opening statement during a Tuesday night candidate forum for Republican Party candidates. Also pictured are Anderson County Commissioner Zach Bates, left, who is challenging Frank in the May 6 GOP primary, and Oak Ridge Police Department Officer Randy Myers, one of two Republican candidates for sheriff.
Note: This story was last updated at 11:45 a.m.
The starkest differences between any candidates at a Tuesday night Republican Party forum might have emerged in the race for Anderson County chancellor, where candidates Michael Farley and Nicki Cantrell clashed on questions of trial experience and whether the Chancery Court should ever be used to hear criminal cases.
In the race for sheriff, Republican candidates Anthony Lay and Randy Myers agreed on one key question: No federal inmates should be housed at the Anderson County jail.
In the race for mayor, Terry Frank, the incumbent, said she had presided over one of the few—and possibly the only—tax cut in Anderson County history, while her opponent, Commissioner Zach Bates, said the county’s biggest economic challenge is “retail leakage.†[Read more…]
The Anderson County Courthouse on Main Street in Clinton is pictured above.
There are six candidates running for Anderson County Commission in District 7 in Oak Ridge in August, and a Democrat has joined the race for Tennessee House of Representatives in the 33rd District.
Meanwhile, an Independent, Bradley S. Rickett, has joined the race for Anderson County mayor, competing against Democrat Jim Hackworth and the winner of the May 6 Republican primary, either the incumbent, Terry Frank, or her challenger, Commissioner Zach Bates.
Fourteen of the 16 Anderson County commissioners are seeking re-election to a four-year term. But Bates, from District 4 in the Lake City area, is not. And neither is Commissioner John Shuey. Shuey is one of two commissioners in District 7, which includes the Glenwood, Highland View, and Pine Valley precincts in Oak Ridge.
District 7 is the most competitive in terms of number of candidates. In addition to the incumbent, Jerry Creasey, other candidates include Jimmy Bouchard, Michael Marsh, Denny Phillips, Kevin Rice, and Theresa Scott.
District 3—which includes Andersonville, Fairview, Glen Alpine, and Norris—has five candidates, including the two incumbents, Steve Emert and Dusty Irwin. The other three candidates are Josh Anderson, David Farmer, and Philip Warfield. [Read more…]
Jim Hackworth
Former Tennessee Rep. Jim Hackworth has qualified to run in the May 6 Democratic primary for Anderson County mayor. He could take on the winner of the Republican primary—either the incumbent, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, or her challenger, Commissioner Zach Bates—in the Aug. 7 county general election.
Hackworth is unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The deadline to qualify as a candidate in the May 6 primaries was noon Thursday. There were four last-minute qualifiers, including Hackworth. Here are the others:
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:
Anderson County Commissioner Zach Bates, pictured at center with his wife Whitney, announces he is running for Anderson County mayor in the Republican primary in May.
CLINTON—Anderson County Commissioner Zach Bates on Tuesday announced he is running for Anderson County mayor in the Republican primary in May.
Bates, 25, will oppose Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, 45, who was elected to a two-year term in August 2012, completing the unexpired term of former mayor Rex Lynch, who resigned in January 2011.
The oldest of 19 children, Bates was 21 when he was elected to the Anderson County Commission  in 2010. He represents District 4, which includes Lake City and Briceville. County officials said he is the youngest mayoral candidate they can recall.
His challenge to Frank might have appeared unexpected. The two have at times appeared to be politically aligned, including, for example, on the citizen-led initiative to install “In God We Trust” signs on the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton in July 2013. [Read more…]
Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank and Sheriff Paul White are engaged in a legal fight over a two-page salary agreement that includes, among other things, six months’ worth of funding for 36 new employees at a new jail pod at the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Sheriff’s Department)
CLINTON—The legal fees might already exceed $20,000, and they could continue to mount in a bitter dispute between the mayor and sheriff over a $7.7 million salary agreement for the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.
Efforts to “stop the bleedingâ€â€”and avoid extra expenses for Anderson County residents—were unsuccessful after a lengthy, heated debate on Monday night. During that debate, Anderson County commissioners rejected several proposals to cover some legal fees of Mayor Terry Frank in her response to a salary suit filed in July by Sheriff Paul White. Among the rejected options were proposals to pay Frank’s fees so far but no more, capping them at $40,000, or covering all expenses until the matter is resolved.
Frank has refused to sign the salary agreement, saying it includes about $1 million more for salaries and overtime than was approved by commission in June. But the Sheriff’s Department has said the salary agreement is routine and was drafted according to state law, and actual spending will be closer to the $6.6 million approved by the commission as part of this year’s budget. [Read more…]
Note: This story was updated at 7:15 p.m.
CLINTON—Some Anderson County commissioners weren’t satisfied with the results they’ve seen—or haven’t seen—from a part-time fiscal analyst hired by the county mayor in December.
Some also weren’t happy about the amount paid to the analyst, Tom Shope, and a request to approve a budget change to pay him after the money has already been spent.
So, during a Monday meeting, they declined to transfer $22,740 from one budget code to another to allow Chris Phillips, Anderson County account and budgets director, to pay Shope from a part-time budget code. [Read more…]
Anderson County Commissioner Jerry Creasey, standing, says a proposal to put the national motto on the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton is dividing commissioners, and the county and Oak Ridge. Also pictured from left are commissioners Whitey Hitchcock, Zach Bates, Tracy Wandell, and John Shuey.
CLINTON—Questions about designs were unresolved Monday, and the Anderson County Commission sent a proposal to put the national motto “In God We Trust” on the county courthouse in Clinton back to a committee that has already considered it once.
The Anderson County Operations Committee recommended last week in a 5-3 vote to install black metal signs with white lettering and the national motto above the courthouse’s four entrances.
But the full 16-member commission discussed putting the national motto in granite lettering during a Monday night meeting, among other things.
