Nov. 8 ballots finalized
No one filed to be counted in the Nov. 8 general election as a write-in candidate for any of Anderson County’s municipalities by the noon Monday (Sept. 19) deadline, according to the county Election Commission.
That means the slate of candidates who qualified for spots on the ballots in the election is now completely set, as the deadline for having a name removed from the ballot has also passed.
• In Clinton, Scott Burton and Zach Farrar are squaring off for the mayor’s position.
Clinton City Council candidates include David W. Queener and Vicki Violette, Ward 1; Brian D. Hatmaker, Ward 2; and Wendy Maness, Harper M. Maxwell, and Mitchell “Shoney” Wolfe, all in Ward 3.
• Rocky Top Mayor Timothy Sharp will face challenger Kerry Templin for a four-year term as mayor of that city
Sharp is seeking his fourth term as mayor. Templin has never held elective office.
Also qualifying to run in the Rocky Top election were five candidates for two city council seats. There are four members on the council, besides the mayor, but they serve four-year staggered terms so that only two are elected every two years.
Incumbents Retha D. (Denise) Casteel and Tony Devaney are running against newcomers Mack Bunch, Richard Dawson and Jeff Gilliam.
Casteel is seeking her second term. Devaney is seeking his first full term on the council after being appointed by the council in October 2019 to serve the unexpired term of Brian Brown, who resigned for health reasons.
Not up for re-election this year are Councilmen Zack Green, who won his seat in the November 2020 election as a newcomer, and Juston Job, who won his first full term in November 2020, and also serves as vice mayor. He had already been on the council for three years, having been appointed to fill out the unexpired term of another council member who resigned.
• In Norris, four of the five current City Council members will be returning for another two years after the Nov. 8 election, but they will be joined by newcomer Charles “Chuck” Nicholson, who now serves as chairman of the Norris Tree Commission.
Although six candidates had filed to run for the five open seats by the Aug. 18 deadline, one current council member, Robert M. Sain, withdrew from the race in time to keep his name off the ballot.
That leaves just five candidates running for the five council seats. The incumbents who are running for re-election are Mayor Chris Mitchell, Vice Mayor Bill Grieve, Loretta Painter and Will Grinder.