Early Voting Kicks Off Friday, Candidates Announced

BY DAVID FISHER

david@dresdenenterprise.com

WEAKLEY COUNTY (July 7) — Voters have an opportunity to cast their ballots early beginning Friday for the August 6 election.

The names of candidates appearing on the August 6 ballot in Weakley County general elections, and state and federal primaries are listed below.

General elections will be held for applicable county offices and state judicial offices where a vacancy has occurred. Primary elections will be held for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Tennessee Senate (even-numbered districts), and Tennessee House of Representatives.

Among those appearing on the ballot in the August 6 Weakley County General Election is Independent candidate Steven J. Totty, who is unchallenged in his bid for the District 5 Commission seat (unexpired term).

In the District 7 Commission race (unexpired term), Republican candidate Mary Beth VanCleave will face off against Whitney W. Stover, who filed as an Independent.

Incumbent Assessor of Property, David A. Tuck, who is running as an Independent, remains unchallenged.

The sole person qualifying to run for the District 1 Constable’s seat (unexpired term) is Republican candidate Steven Lynn Todd.

The five Weakley County School Board positions (odd-numbered districts) are unchallenged, with the following incumbent members seeking re-election: District 1 - Gath W. Meeks; District 3 - Jeffrey Lynn Floyd; District 5 - Kimberly B. Longacre; District 7 - Steven D Sims; and District 9 - Joshua Thomas Moore. By law, all school board members must file as Independents.

In state races, candidates running for the Tennessee State Senate 24th District seat are: Casey L. Hood (R) from Obion County, incumbent John D. Stevens (R) of Huntingdon, and Yahweh Yahweh (I) from Gibson County. No Democratic candidates qualified to be on the August 6 ballot for the position.

The most hotly-contested state office up for grabs on the August 6 Primary Election is for the seat being vacated by Andrew “Andy” Holt (R-Dresden), who represents the 76th District in the Tennessee State House of Representatives. Holt announced he is not seeking another term of office in the state legislature after 10 years of service. The 38-year-old state representative said he will leave office after the November General Election. This leaves the race wide open for those seeking his soon-to-be vacated seat. The 76th District covers Weakley County and parts of Obion and Carroll Counties.

To fill the void of left by Holt’s departure, a total of six candidates entered the race for the Tennessee State House of Representatives seat representing the 76th District. They are: Tandy Darby (R), Dennis J. Doster (R), David Hawks (R) and Jeff Washburn (I), all from Weakley County; John McMahan (R) from Obion County; and Keith Priestley (R) of McKenzie. No Democratic candidates qualified to be on the August 6 ballot for the 76th District State House post.

In federal primary races, a broad field of candidates are vying for the United States Senate post, soon to be vacated by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, who announced he would not seek another term in 2020.

In federal primaries, those seeking the U.S. Senate seat are as follows:

Republican candidates:

• Clifford Adkins

• Natisha Brooks Candidate Connection

• Byron Bush Candidate Connection

• Roy Cope

• Terry Dicus

• Tom Emerson Jr.

• George Flinn Jr.

• Bill Hagerty

• Jon Henry Candidate Connection

• Kent Morrell

• Glen Neal Candidate Connection

• John Osborne

• Aaron Pettigrew

• David Schuster Candidate Connection

• Manny Sethi

Democratic candidates:

• Marquita Bradshaw Candidate Connection

• Gary Davis

• Robin Kimbrough Candidate Connection

• James Mackler

• Mark Pickrell Candidate Connection

A U.S. senator’s term of office is for six years, and approximately one-third of the total membership of the Senate is elected every two years. Since Marsha Blackburn was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, and is currently serving her first term representing the State of Tennessee, she will not be up for re-election until 2024.

In the U.S. House of Representative 8th District race the following candidates will be on the August 6 primary ballot:

Republican candidate:

• David Kustoff, incumbent

Democratic candidates:

• Erica Stotts Pearson

• Lawrence A. Pivnick

• Hollis W. Skinner

• Savannah Williamson

Also on the August 6 ballot is the judicial question, “Shall Carma Dennis McGee be retained in office as a Judge of the Court of Appeals, Western Division, or be replaced?”

Those Republican and Democratic candidates, receiving their party’s nomination in the August 6 Primary will face Independent candidates running for their respective positions in the November 3 State and Federal General Election. Independent candidates are not required to win a primary to be on the November 3 ballot.

Early voting will take place beginning Friday, July 17 until Saturday, August 1. Weakley County voters have two locations to cast an early ballot – Weakley County Election Commission office in Dresden and the Martin City Masonic Lodge, located on Hwy. 45S in Martin. For a copy of the August 6 sample ballot and times for early voting, see Page 7 of today’s Enterprise.

The absentee ballot request deadline is Thursday, July 30, 2020.

The Election Commission is composed of Democratic members: Linda Ramsey and Secretary - Amy Lewellen; and three Republicans: Britan Coleman, Chairman - John Robert Freeman and Wendell Verdell. Alex Britt serves as Weakley County administrator of elections.

For more information, contact the Weakley County Election Commission, located at 135 South Poplar Street, Suite A, Dresden, TN 38225-1479. Phone: (731) 364-5564 Fax: (731) 364-3229.