Scarbrough defeats Ragan in state GOP primary race
The biggest news to come from last week’s state primary and Anderson County general election was newcomer Rick Scarbrough’s upset of longtime Tennessee state Rep. John D. Ragan in the race for the Republican nomination for the state House District 33 seat.
Scarbrough, a former Clinton police chief, outpolled Ragan 2,963-2,705 votes, or 52.28% to 47.72% of the total votes cast. He will face Democrat Anne Backus in the Nov. 5 general election.
Backus, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, received 2,381 votes.
Ragan, of Oak Ridge, has held the seat since 2011.
In the county general election contest, Democrat Ebony Capshaw defeated Republican Aaron Wells 669-580 in the race for the unexpired District 6 Anderson County Commission post.
For the Anderson County School Board, Republican Dail R. Cantrell defeated independent Sharon Burlingame 707-364 in District 3; Republican Darren Carden beat independent John S. Burrell 444-195 in District 4; in District 5, Republican Sheri Jarnigan-Beaty won with 531 votes in a three-way race with Democrat Theresa Evans Venable (275 votes) and independent Andy McKamey (172 votes); and in District 8, Democrat David Miller outpolled Republican Glenda J. Langenberg 854-732.
In the state Republican primary, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn easily outpolled challenger Tres Wittum 5,185-993 in Anderson County, and won by a similar margin statewide.
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann was unopposed in U.S. House District 3, and picked up all 5,633 votes cast in the county.
State Rep. Ed Butler (633 votes) was unopposed for the Republican nomination for the District 41 state House seat.
In the state Democrat primary, Gloria Johnson picked up 2,183 votes (79.82%) in the county in the four-way race to oppose Blackburn in the U.S. Senate. She outpolled Marquita Bradshaw (420 votes), Lola Denise Brown (77), and Civil Miller-Watkins (55).
Jack Allen ran unopposed to be the Democratic candidate to face Fleischmann in the U.S. House District 3 race. He picked up 2,477 votes.
Democrat Joe Derek Hawn (226 votes) was unopposed in his bid to face Republican Butler in state House District 41; and D. Scott Hammond (2,395 votes) ran unopposed as Democrat state executive committee member for District 5.
In the general election part of the ballot, Joey Smith (706 votes) and Debra L. Heaton (517) won the two open seats on the city of Clinton School Board in Ward 1; no candidate qualified to run for an open seat in Ward 3.
In Oak Ridge, Mary Crank (1,594) was unopposed in the race for the city School Board.
Republican Daniel Forrester (6,521 votes) was unopposed for the District 7 chancellor position.
Republican John K. Alley Jr. (6,581 votes) was unopposed for county assessor of property.
For Oak Ridge City Judge, James T. “Jim” Normand (3,191 votes) ran unopposed as an independent candidate.
Tennessee Supreme Court Judge Dwight Tarwater was retained by a vote of 5,464-2,041 in the at-large position; and Judge Matthew J. Wilson was retained by a vote of 5,483-1,877 in the state Court of Criminal Appeals, Western Division.
