Light city election set for summer

Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 4:12 pm

Voter

registration deadline for

August election is July 3

By ANDREA AGARDY

Staff Writer

Local and area residents will be asked to weigh in on a variety of races this summer when elections are held for a federal, state, county and city seats.

In the Tullahoma city elections, voters will choose between three candidates to fill two seats on the city’s governing body.

Appearing on the August ballot in the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Alderman race will be incumbent Jimmy Blanks, as well as John Riley and Sandy Lindeman. The second seat up for grabs on the board is currently held by Greg Sandlin, who opted not to seek another term.

There will be no contest in the election for Tullahoma Board of Education this year, with incumbents Vickie Shelton, J. Patrick Welsh, as well as Kim C. Uselton filing petitions to run for the three available seats.

Incumbent Daryl Welch is not seeking re-election.

General election

In the general election for county posts, Jimmy White, a Manchester resident, is unchallenged in his bid to retain the assessor of property position.

There is, however, a contest for the District 4 seat on the Coffee County Commission. Incumbent Anne C. Frisby, a Democrat, is facing a challenge from Republican Sam Mai.

Keith Thacker, a Democrat, is the only candidate seeking the District 14 seat on the county commission.

Gary Nester will be the only candidate on the ballot for Seat 1 on the Coffee County School Board, representing Districts 1, 2 and 3. The election to fill Seat 2 on the county board of education is also uncontested. Freda Jones was the only candidate to submit a nominating petition.

Two candidates will be vying for voters’ endorsement to fill Seat 5 on the county board of education. Shannon Duncan and Kathy Norton are both running to represent Districts 13, 14 and 16. Esther J. Sims is unopposed in her bid to fill Seat 7 on the county school board, representing districts 19 through 21.

State races

In the Republican primary for the District 47 seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, Judd Matheny is unchallenged, as is Scott Prince, the Democrat seeking his party’s endorsement to run for the seat in November’s general election.

A total of nine candidates are seeking their respective parties’ endorsement to fill the newly created District 16 seat in the Tennessee State Senate in November. Janice Bowling, Eric Chance, Rod McClellan and Ron Stoltzfus will appear on the ballot in the GOP primary. The Democratic primary for the endorsement will be a race between Jeff Bottoms, Kevin Lawrence, Jim Lewis, Steve Roller and Justin C. Walling.

Federal races

Five Republicans will appear on the ballot for the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Bob Corker. Corker is being challenged in the primary by Fred R. Anderson, Mark Twain Clemens, Brenda S. Lenard and Zach Poskevich.

Seven Democrats are seeking their party’s nod to run against Corker in November’s general election, including Mark E. Clayton, Larry Crim, Gary Gene Davis, Dave Hancock, Park Overall, T.K. Owens and Benjamin Roberts.

Incumbent Diane Black will be challenged in the GOP primary by Lou Ann Zelenik to hold on to her 6^th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Whoever wins that primary will run opposed in the general election this fall, as no Democrats filed petitions to seek that party’s endorsement to run for the seat.

Republican incumbent Scott DesJarlais is facing a primary challenge from Shannon Kelley in his bid to win another term to represent District 4 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The winner of that race will run against Democrat Eric Stewart, who is unchallenged in his party’s primary this summer.

In order to cast ballots in the Aug. 2 election, voters must be registered no later than Tuesday, July 3. Prospective voters must be United States citizens and Tennessee residents who are at least 18 years of age on or before the Aug. 2 election. People who have been convicted of a felony are not permitted to vote, unless that right has been restored by the court.

Voters who head to the polls on Election Day will be required to present a photo ID before casting their ballots. Accepted forms of photo identification include a Tennessee driver’s license, a United States Passport, a Department of Safety photo ID, a military ID and a gun permit card. College IDs and a photo identification card not issued by the state of federal government will not be accepted. Voters who show up at the polls without the proper identification will be given a provisional ballot, and will have two business days to returning to the county election commission with a valid photo ID. Prospective voters without proper identification can obtain a free photo ID from the Tennessee Department of Safety.

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