KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

With Election Day set for this Thursday, over 3,700 voters turned out for early voting to make their voices heard.

According to Elections Administrator Andy Farrar, during the 14 days of early voting there were a total of 3,755 voters who cast their ballots for the Aug. 1 election. Throughout the early voting session, Farrar kept people updated on social media by posting the daily voting totals.

Per the data shared by Farrar, the first and thirteenth days of early balloting saw the highest turnout of voters, with 367 and 439 voters respectively.

The average of voter turnout during the early voting session was about 260 voters, and the percentage turnout of voters for early voting was 10.17%.

As for who saw the most ballots cast, Tullahoma ended the period with the most ballots cast at 1,656, followed by Rural Coffee County with 1,217 and Manchester bringing up the rear with 882. The current number of registered Coffee County voters as of Monday, July 29 is 36,925.

According to data from the Tennessee Secretary of State, the early voting turnout for Coffee County was down in comparison to the 2024 election with a percentage difference of 32.58%, yet had a higher turnout than the 2016 election with percentage difference of 35.87%.

Now that the early voting period is over, the only time Coffee County residents will be able to cast their ballot for the August State and Federal Primaries and State and General Elections on Thursday, Aug. 1. Hours for all precincts in Coffee County will be 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. Voters who have an address change will be asked to fill out a failsafe form to allow them to vote in the correct precinct.

Voters unsure of where they need to cast their ballots should contact the Election Commission office at (931) 723-5103. 

What’s on the ballot?

Both Manchester and Tullahoma will see a new mayor and their choice of aldermen as those seats will be on the August general election ballot, where voters will select four candidates to serve as alderman for their respective city.

For the race for mayor of Tullahoma, three candidates are vying for the seat following Mayor Ray Knowis’ decision to not seek re-election. The final candidates for mayor include current District 9 County Commissioner Lynn Sebourn, current Tullahoma Alderman Kurt Glick and Petros Pisinos. C. Scott Shasteen also submitted his papers for the mayoral seat; however, he announced in June he would be suspending his campaign and encouraged his supporters to vote for another candidate. Resident Karl Smithson recently announced his run for the mayoral seat as a write-in candidate, where voters will have to write-in Smithson’s name on the ballot.

For the Tullahoma aldermanic race, three seats will be up for grabs as Matthew Bird, Franklin Cammack, Sernobia McGee, John Santana and Busch Thoma seek election. Current aldermen Jenna Amacher, Daniel Berry and Derick Mann did not file their petitions to qualify and will not be seeking re-election for their seats.

For Manchester, the three candidates vying for the seat of mayor of Manchester include current aldermen Bob Bellamy, current aldermen and District 2 County Commissioner Joey Hobbs and Bill Nickels. Current Manchester Mayor Marilyn Howard also announced her decision to not seek reelection for the seat.

The Manchester aldermanic race will see eight candidates vying for three seats. The candidates for Manchester aldermen include current aldermen and incumbent Julie Anderson, Joe Pat Cope, John Revice Fletcher, Shannon Fletcher, current aldermen and incumbent Ryan French, Harold “Rocky” Jones, Wilma Thomas and James Threet. The third aldermanic seat up for election is Bellamy, who is running for Manchester Mayor.

As for county wide races, the seat of Coffee County Mayor will be on the August ballot following the sudden death of Judd Matheny in April. Interim Mayor Dennis Hunt was selected as the Republican nominee following the GOP’s caucus in May. Hunt will meet independent candidates David Nipper and Roxanne Patton at the August election. Also on the ballot will be the seat for Coffee County Property Assessor. Candidate Elissa Fletcher won the Republican Primary in March and runs unopposed.

Other county races will include Dowe Langford Jones unopposed for the seat of County Commissioner District 1, Roger W. Chambers for County Commissioner District 2, Arlis Markum for the seat of Road Commmissioner Seat 2, District 4 and Randal Braker for the seat of Constable Seat 3-Districts 5, 8 and 9.  

School board races

Tullahoma City Schools Board of Education has three seats for four-year terms and one seat for a two-year term on the August ballot. Incumbents Kim Uselton, Pat Welsh and Broc Compton will run unopposed on the ballot, while Rosie Graham also runs unopposed for the two-year term seat.

On the county level, the Coffee County School Board will see a couple of seats up for grabs. For Seat 1-Districts 1, 3 and 4 Holly Matthews runs unopposed. For the race of Seat 2-Districts 2, 6 and 7 sees two seats on the ballot as Gary Cordell and Scott Hansert also will run unopposed. The final race in the school board is for Seat 3-Districts 5, 8 and 9 will also see two seats on the ballot as Robert Gilley and Beth Yentsch run unopposed.

As for Manchester, the ballot will see candidates Susan Parsley and Lee Sullivan will run for the two seats unopposed.

State and federal primaries

As for whose on the ballot for the August primaries, in the race for State House of Representative for District 47, incumbent Rush Bricken will go unopposed in the August Republican primary. Bricken will go against independent candidate Veronica Owen in the November election. As for State Senate for District 16, incumbent Janice Bowling will also be unopposed in the August Republican primary, while Wayne Steele will also go unopposed in the August Democratic primary.

For the race of U.S. House of Representatives, District 4, will see incumbent Scott DesJarlais face off against Thomas E. Davis and Joshua James in the August Republican Primary. Whoever wins will meet Victoria Broderick, who is running unopposed in the August Democratic Primary, on the November ballot. As for the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Marsha Blackburn meets Tres Wittum at the August Republican Primary, meanwhile Marquita Bradshaw, Lola Denise Brown, Gloria Johnson and Civil Miller-Watkins will meet in the August Democratic Primary. Also on the August primary will be the Democratic State Executive Committeewoman for District 16, which will see Rupa Blackwell running unopposed.