Early voting for Aug. 6 election enters home stretch

Early voting locally and across the Volunteer State is entering the home stretch after nearly two weeks. The last chance to vote before Election Day next Thursday is Saturday, Aug. 1. In Sullivan County, early voting occurs at three locations: the Civic Auditorium at 1550 Fort Henry Drive, Kingsport; the Sullivan County Election Commission Office at 3258 state Route 126, suite 103, Blountville; and the Slater Community Center at 325 McDowell St., Bristol. The locations will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. Hawkins County early voters have two locations. The Hawkins County Courthouse at 100 E. Main St., Rogersville will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. The Clay Masonic Lodge at 111 Hamilton St., Church Hill will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays. Both locations will stay open until 8 p.m. on Friday, July 31. They'll also be open on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. On Aug. 6, Election Day, there will be 25 voting precincts in Sullivan and 19 in Hawkins. Polling places will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Winners in the local general races will take office Sept. 1. The winners of the state and federal primaries will face each other and independent candidates in the Nov. 3 general elections. Turnout In Sullivan County, early voting so far showed an increase of about 200 more Democratic votes cast and a decrease of about 500 Republican votes case compared to the same period in 2018. As of Tuesday, Sullivan reported 6,064 ballots cast in the Republican primary, 1,248 in the Democratic primary and 7 in the general election. Compared to early voting in August of 2018, the last heavily contested gubernatorial race, the numbers were 6,558 Republican primary, 1,085 Democratic primary and 81 general. Sullivan numbers were not broken down among the three early polling places there. In Hawkins, 2,442 ballots have been cast early, so far. Most of those come from the in-person polling places, with slightly more votes cast in Church Hill than Rogersville. The sites are neck and neck for the number of Republican ballots cast; Church Hill has twice as many Democratic voters than Rogersville, and almost six times as many general only ballots — people who did not vote in the state/federal primaries. Other early votes include 81 from absentee ballots and 24 from nursing homes. Sullivan Sullivan County races of interest include a Republican primary in which District 1 state Rep. John Crawford, R-Kingsport, faces a challenge from Sullivan County Commissioner Jessica Means of Kingsport for a district that stretches from Kingsport to Bristol. Among contested Sullivan County Commission races, District 6 sees three GOP nominees face independent challengers for three commission seats. Likewise, in District 11 — all inside Kingsport — there are three GOP nominees and three independents for three seats. Commission races in Districts 1 and 8 are also contested. Incumbent Sheriff Jeff Cassidy faces an independent challenge from Jamie Free. Republican Joshua Rose will face independent Chris Raines in the race for county attorney; Republican incumbent Dan Street is not seeking reelection. Hawkins In Hawkins, the only countywide office with a competitive race is the superintendent of roads. Incumbent Republican Danny Jones, first elected in 2022, is challenged by independent Jason Light. Light is Church Hill's public works director. Voters will also elect a judge to the Third Judicial District Circuit Court, which serves Hawkins, Hancock, Hamblen and Greene counties. Mark Stapleton is the appointed incumbent and a Rogersville attorney. Greeneville attorney Crystal Jessee challenges him. Aaron Chapman will also appear on the ballot, but suspended his campaign earlier this year and endorsed Stapleton. The races for county commissioner are contested in Districts 2, 3 and 6 with Republican and independent candidates. Kingsport In Kingsport independent-only contests, incumbent Mayor Paul Montgomery faces a challenge from Tim Sanders, while Julie Byers, Calvin Clifton, Richard Isaacs, Joshua McMillan and Tom Segelhorst are seeking three at-large aldermen seats. For two city school board seats, incumbent Republicans Brandon Fletcher and Melissa Woods seek reelection. They're joined on the ballot by independent Derrick Browder. State, federal In the state primaries for governor, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, state Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, and U.S. Rep. John Rose, R-6th, are running on the GOP side. Democrats Carmita Atwater, Tim Cyr, Jerri Green, Adam "Ditch" Kurtz and Kevin Lee McCurtis are competing to be their party's gubernatorial nominee. Current GOP Gov. Bill Lee has reached his term limit of two four-year terms. For state committeemen and committeewomen — partisan positions in District 4, which encompasses Sullivan and Hawkins counties — GOP incumbent Matthew Johnson faces challengers Michael Hannan and Dan Bolton. For Republican committeewoman, incumbent Linda D. Buckles faces challenger Leah M. Bolton. On the Democratic side, incumbent District 4 Committeewoman Lori Love faces a challenge from Robin Cleary. The incumbent Democratic committeeman seeking reelection is unopposed.