Big decisions. Small turnout. That was the election Thursday as Tennesseans cast ballots in several races.
Congressional results came in quickly and clearly
Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles has won the Republican nomination for Congress in Tennessee’s 5th District. The redrawn district also includes portions of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties.
The race has been hotly contested. Hermitage voter Brian Thomas said he went with Ogles. He said he tried to look past the attack ads as he came to a decision.
“You watch a lot of these commercials on these guys, and you do as much research as you can on these men and women that are running for, say, District 5. And they’re all just hammering each other with whether they’re lies or truths, or it’s just like it becomes kind of ridiculous,” Thomas said. “So, you almost have to vote for the lesser of two evils.”
Ogles’ chief opponents were Beth Harwell, Tennessee’s first female Speaker of the House, and businessman Kurt Winstead, who came in second and third, respectively.
The winner will face state Sen. Heidi Campbell in November in what could be one of the state’s toughest-fought races. The district has been one of only two seats in Congress held by Tennessee Democrats. But after redistricting, it now favors Republicans.
In the Democratic primary for Middle Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District, engineer Randal Cooper had a comfortable lead over pastor Clay Faircloth. The winner of that contest will face incumbent Republican John Rose in November.
— Julia Ritchey, Chas Sisk and Rachel Iacovone (9:50 p.m.)
Meanwhile, at the state level…
Progressive activist Justin Jones appears to have won a seat in the Tennessee House representing District 52, where Rep. Mike Stewart is retiring.
In the Democratic primary, Jones faced Metro Councilmember Delishia Porterfield from Antioch. No Republican qualified for the primary, giving Jones a clear path to the General Assembly.
Jones, who is 26, is already well known around the capitol and has spent years challenging Republican leaders, holding sit-ins and even camping for months on capitol grounds. His 2020 protest led to a stricter ban on camping.
In 2019, a judge briefly barred Jones from the state capitol after being charged with assault for throwing a cup of coffee through an elevator door at then-House Speaker Glen Casada. The charges were ultimately dropped.
Over in Williamson County, incumbent State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson is so far fending off conservative activist Gary Humble in his Franklin-based district.
And Jack McCalmon holds a 5-percentage point lead over Laurie Cardoza-Moore in the Republican primary to replace outgoing Tennessee House member Glen Casada.
— Blake Farmer and Rachel Iacovone (9:50 p.m.)
For governor, all eyes were on the Democratic race
Democrat Jason Martin is the winner of the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He will face off this fall against incumbent Gov. Bill Lee, who ran unopposed.
Martin, a first-time candidate for office, is a critical care doctor from Nashville. He narrowly defeated JB Smiley Jr in a race that remained too close to call until Friday afternoon. Carnita Atwater came in third in the Democratic primary.
Voter Natalie Prass, a musician who lives in South Nashville, cast her ballot for Martin on Election Day.
“He’s for LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, gun control,” Prass said. “He’s also a doctor and — I don’t know — I just feel like that’s a pretty fresh perspective for Tennessee.”
Martin was the top fundraiser in the race with more than $600,000. But he’ll face an uphill battle against Republican incumbent Gov. Bill Lee, who has more than $4 million to spend.
However, Martin believes many voters have grown dissatisfied with Lee’s performance while in office.
“Gov. Lee is going to need every one of those $4-plus million to run away from his record in this campaign.”
While Lee was unopposed in the primary, he received more votes than all Democrats combined.
— LaTonya Turner updated this story (12:30 p.m.)
Everyone got a party, even school board candidates
Tennesseans also cast ballots in partisan school board races. Several incumbents in Davidson County had a D, for Democrat, next to their name for the first time. They faced off against both Republican and Independent candidates in four board races.
Democratic candidate Cheryl Mayes quashed incumbent Fran Bush in the 6th District with over 3,000 votes. This won’t be the first time Mayes has served on the board. She was a member from 2010 to 2014.
Incumbent school board member Rachael Anne Elrod seems to be keeping her post in the 2nd District. Berthena Nabaa-McKinney and Erin O’Hara Block also have comfortable leads over their Republican and Independent challengers.
Resident Dawn Tyus votes every time there’s a chance. She works for Metro Nashville Public Schools and has children attending their schools.
“So, it’s super important to me to make sure we have people in there that not only listens to teachers but also listens to parents — because I have children that are a part of MNPS.”
— Jackie Llanos, Ambriehl Crutchfield and Rachel Iacovone (9:50 p.m.)
Nashville voters said yes to every charter amendment
It appears that all four charter amendments, which helped make this year’s ballot the longest in Metro history, have been approved by voters.
More: Here are the 4 Nashville charter changes on the ballot for the Aug. 4 election
Amendment 1 alters the process of how the charter is amended, requiring signatures from 10% of registered voters in Nashville-Davidson County.
Bordeaux voter Will Hovey says he was particularly motivated to come out and vote against Amendment 1.
“I would like to know who was the author of that amendment,” Hovey said. “Somebody is a stinker! I mean somebody is a stinker for pulling that stuff.”
Those against Amendment 1 worried it will make grassroots organizing more difficult by requiring more time and resources to get those additional signatures. Before this vote, a petition needed signatures from 10% of the number of voters from the previous general election, so turnout played a role.
Amendment 2 changes the requirements to join the Metro Nashville Police Department from the same physical fitness standards as the U.S. Army and Navy to standards set by the Metro Civil Service Commission. Supporters hope it will help diversify The Metro Nashville Police Department.
Amendment 3 better defines the differences between the Metro Department of Health and the Board of Health. Before, only a medical doctor could serve as the Metro director of health. Amendment 3 removes that requirement and creates the position of chief medical officer if someone without a medical degree becomes director.
Amendment 4 permanently cements the year-old Nashville Department of Transportation in the charter.
— Paige Pfleger and Rachel Iacovone (10:30 p.m.)
Rutherford County replaces retiring Judge Donna Scott Davenport
It appears that Republican Travis Lampley will be the next juvenile court judge. In his new role, he takes over a system that sowed distrust with its treatment of children.
Lampley is the assistant district attorney and brings a decade of experience in juvenile courts to the role.
“I think this county needs and desires someone with actual juvenile court experience to lead leaders moving forward,” Lampley said in a WGNS radio forum. “This is not a time to be learning on the job.”
Lampley promised to get the court back on track after Judge Donna Scott Davenport oversaw illegal arrests and detention of children for two decades. She announced her retirement in January after an investigation by ProPublica and WPLN News.
— Paige Pfleger and Rachel Iacovone (10:30 p.m.)
Long ballots meant long lines
The ballots were long, and in some precincts, so were the lines.
In Maury County, the wait was as long as an hour to vote in some places. And the first results were delayed past 8 p.m. in Davidson County, so voting could wrap up.
There were also frustrations due to the redistricting. Alex Martin lives in South Nashville — just outside the boundaries for some competitive Democratic primaries.
“Most of the important ballot elections are actually happening in other districts right now,” Martin said. “And our district that we live in right now, I like to call it the alligator mouth that’s been run over by a tractor. I don’t know how the hell people looked at that and said, ‘Yes, that looks like a fair district to vote in.'”
— Chas Sisk and Rachel Iacovone (11:30 p.m.)
Polls closed at 7. Results were pending, pending, pending.
We started to see early voting returns trickling in, about an hour after polls closed.
Lisa Cole is a regular voter, and the historically long ballot wasn’t enough to keep her away from the polls. She said, although the whole ballot was important, she took special interest in the judicial races.
“Probably the judges is the most important, given what happened with the Supreme Court,” Cole said. “So, it’s clear that who becomes judges locally could eventually end up down the decades, so it’s really important to vote for the locally judges.”
— Julia Ritchey, Chas Sisk, Damon Mitchell and Rachel Iacovone (8:15 p.m.)
It wasn’t a candidate, but abortion access had supporters at the polls
Abortion wasn’t on the lengthy ballot in Tennessee, but the issue was top-of-mind for many voters.
Jaqueline Smith voted at a recreation center in Spring Hill this afternoon after waiting more than an hour in line, primarily because she wants to unseat Gov. Bill Lee, who pushed through the state’s abortion ban.
“In every single reason I vote, that is behind it. I will never vote for someone — Democrat, Independent or Republican — who tells me I don’t have a right to govern my own body. Even if everyone around me disagrees.” Smith said. “And actually, I counted the Ds in line and in there, it was more than I thought it was going to be because you could see it on the paper.”
In Maury County, 19-year-old Hannah Boaz cast her first vote largely off recommendations from her family. But that complicated voting for Republicans, who have praised the looming abortion ban.
“I, personally, don’t like it,” Boaz said. “But I do believe that there are certain situations that I think it should be available.”
Abortion clinics have mostly stopped because a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy is currently in effect. A full ban starts later this month.
— Blake Farmer and Rachel Iacovone (8:30 p.m.)
Earlier in the day, short lines — but confused voters — at many polling sites
Turnout in many Middle Tennessee polling locations was low, but there were still complications for some voters.
Gloria Reese and Barbara McBride showed up at the wrong polling place in Southeast Nashville. Reese had to get to another location to cast her ballot this morning.
“We are senior citizens, and it would have been great if we could have had a little heads up,” Reese said. “It’s not that much of an inconvenience because it’s not far away from here, but it’s just good to know in advance so you can plan for these things.”
Reese said a polling place mix-up could’ve been a bigger issue for folks who had to take a bus to get there.
Meanwhile, the long ballot led to a long line at Spring Hill High School in Maury County. Fred Hardison is a retired truck driver.
“You only got three machines for an eight-page ballot. That takes some time,” Hardison said. “There’s a lot of people standing in line up there wondering what’s taking so long.”
Aside from congressional and state legislative primaries, much of the ballot was full of judicial retention elections. In Nashville, which also had charter amendments, the ballot was longer than it’s ever been.
— Alexis Marshall, Blake Farmer and Rachel Iacovone (8:00 p.m.)
Low turnout as voting began
In many places, early voting yielded even lower turnout than usual, and that trickle appeared to continue early on Election Day. Polls opened at 7 a.m., and WPLN News reporters visited several polling places, finding sparse crowds casting ballots.
Really quiet this morning at my neighborhood polling place in Green Hills, and not a lot of signage either. As you might guess, the #tn5 GOP primary seems to be the main race, with a bit of school board action. pic.twitter.com/DDsrS2IOJa
— Chas Sisk (@chassisk) August 4, 2022
In some areas — like Southeast Nashville — voters realized their polling places changed. That’s a result of newly drawn lines that split Nashville into three districts.
The new boundaries also meant some voters were surprised to find which contests they were eligible to vote in, and which candidates were running.
I did speak to one voter who said they felt gerrymandered out of the important races. He's in district 21, which he described as shaped like an alligator mouth that a tractor ran over. pic.twitter.com/Vf90Yz83tj
— Lexi Marshall (@alexistmarshall) August 4, 2022
— Tony Gonzalez and Cynthia Abrams (3:30 p.m.)
Election overview
Voters made decisions in partisan primaries to decide the Republican and Democratic nominees for multiple state and federal offices — including for governor, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Tennessee Senate (odd-number districts) and Tennessee House.
There were also general elections for state judicial offices, which asked voters whether they want to replace or to retain judges.
And there was an array of positions being decided in counties across the state, including four amendments to the Metro Charter in Nashville.
WPLN’s election reporting lives online at WPLN.org/Elections. Here are recent highlights from that coverage:
- Midterm will show whether dividing Nashville pays off for Republicans
- Meet the Democrats who want to challenge Republican Gov. Bill Lee
- 4 races to watch for the Tennessee legislature
- Why are so many voters sitting out this election?
Today’s winners from the state and federal primaries, as well as any independents, will next appear on the general election ballot on Nov. 8.
This story will be regularly updated on Thursday. It was first posted at 3:30 p.m.
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