Anderson County mirrors state in selection of Hagerty
Anderson County fell in line with the rest of Tennessee in choosing Bill Hagerty as one of the two candidates who will face off in the race for a United States Senate seat in November.
Of the 47,928 registered voters in Anderson County, 23.1-percent casts ballots in the Aug. 6 election — 11,051 total votes being cast.
“All things considered, it went very well,” Anderson County Administrator of Elections Mark Stephens said.
Stephens said that holding an election during a pandemic presented challenges, but it was also a learning tool.
The Aug. 8 Anderson County General Election and Primary was expected to have a low turnout — there were no contested county seats — and Stephens noted the Election Commission was able to see what worked well, and what needed to be fine-tuned before the November election, especially in regard to social distancing and other procedures at various precincts.
“First and foremost, we have to protect our voters. We also have to protect our poll workers,” Stephens said. “In that regard, I think this election went very well.”
Bill Hagerty, a Republican, and James Mackler, a Democrat are vying for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Larm Alexander, who is retiring, were the top vote getters in the Aug. 6 Primary for Anderson County.
Hagerty won the overall election with 50.8-percent of the vote statewide (331,019 votes) over his closest challenger Dr. Manny Sethi, who garnered 39.4-percent of the vote (256,896 votes) statewide. Hagerty and Sethi finished one and two in a field of 16 candidates.
Anderson Countians who voted on the Democrat ticket, however, differed from the rest of the state.
Margquita Bradshaw’s victory in the Democratic Primary is viewed by many as an “upset.”
The New York Times said, “Ms. Bradshaw, an environmental justice advocate, is the first Black woman to be nominated for the Senate by a major party in Tennessee.”
The headline in The Daily Memphian read, “Bradshaw upsets political world with U.S. Senate Primary win.”
Anderson Countians, however, favored former U.S. Army pilot James Mackler in the Democrat Primary, 1,196 to 812 over Bradshaw. The pair ran one and two in a field of five running on the Democrat ticket for U.S. Senate.
In the United State House of Representatives District 3 contest, incumbent Republican Chuck Fleischmann garnered 6,665 votes in Anderson County. Fleischmann ran unopposed in the primary.
Democrat challenger Meg Gorman, who will face Fleishmann in November, received 3,041 votes in Anderson County.
Tennessee House of Representatives District 33 incumbent Republican John Ragan received 5,562 votes from Anderson Countians. He ran unopposed in the primary.
Challenger, Democrat Madison Dittner, who also ran unopposed, received 183 votes.
Tennessee House of Representatives District 36 incumbent Republican Dennis Powers received 998 votes from Anderson Countians. He ran unopposed in the primary.
C.J. Mitchell, Democrat challenger for the seat, received 303 votes.
There were no contested “local” races in Anderson County.
Assessor of Property John K. Alley Jr. received 8,653 votes.
On the Anderson County School Board ticket, Dail R. Cantrell (Dist. 3) received 1,372 votes; John S. Burrell (Dist. 4) received 805 votes; Andy McKamey (Dist. 5) received 945 votes; Scott Gillenwaters (Dist. 6) received 1,000 votes; Glenda J. Langenberg (Dist. 8) received 1,492 votes.