Republicans prevail in Sullivan commission races

BLOUNTVILLE — Republican nominees overall fared well in the Sullivan County Commission general election Thursday, with the only Democrat running countywide not winning in District 1 and just one independent defeating a Republican. Two horse races occurred in the Districts 6 and 11 commission races, where independents gave Republican nominees a run, according to unofficial results at www.scelect.org/results.html from the Sullivan County Election Commission Thursday night. In the end, however, the only independent to win was Zac Thomas in District 11. He narrowly bested the vote total of Kingsport school board member and Kingsport dentist Phillip Marshall only when the final unofficial tallies of the night from all precincts were reported. The unofficial Thursday results, which must be certified by the Election Commission to become final, coupled with the May 5 primary results indicate the commission will have 12 new faces and 12 incumbents leaving the 24-member body come September, with the incoming group including two former commissioners returning to office. Among those newcomers is Bob Harshbarger in District 6. He is the husband of U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-1st, and father of District 4 state Sen. Bobby Harshbager, who represents Sullivan and Hawkins counties. He was seeking one of three District 6 seats and came in third place ahead of the next in line, independent candidate Jason Walden. DISTRICT 6 DETAILS In a District 6 race for three seats and no incumbents in the greater Indian Springs area, Republican nominees and ultimate winners of the seats were Bob Harshbarger; Matthew Johnson, a former commissioner and head of county archives and tourism; and Tim Pullon, an insurance agent and longtime civic club member. They went up against independents Ken Osborne and Jason Walden. Early and absentee totals had Pullon leading the ticket with 1,136, Johnson next with 1,038, followed by Harshbarger with 776, Walden with 668 and Osborne at 558. However, when election day totals were added, the final unofficial results were Pullon 1,945, Johnson 1,831 and Harshbarger 1,425, with Walden next at 1,095 and Osborne at 978. Walden during the campaign repeatedly indicated he is a Republican and never voted Democratic but was not judged bonafide by the GOP because he did not vote in three of the last four GOP state primaries, basically a requirement to be a "bonafide" Republican by the party unless a waiver is granted. That issue caused angst in other races in Sullivan and across the state. The three Republicans had signs — funded by Harshbarger's campaign and listed as in-kind contributions for Pullon and Johnson on a Bob Harshbarger campaign financial report — saying "real Republicans" give "real results." DISTRICT 11 In the District 11 race for three seats, the three Republican nominees faced off with three independents on the ballot. The GOP hopefuls in the all-inside-Kingsport district were incumbents John Gardner and Hunter Locke and newcomer Phillip Marshall, a Kingsport school board member. They faced three independents: Dobyns-Bennett teacher Joshua French, Travis Sampson and automobile salesman Zac Thomas. The final tally Thursday night was Gardner 1,172, Locke 1,025, Thomas 982, Marshall 942, French 826 and Sampson 481. That flipped the first reported tallies from early and absentee results of Gardner at 740, Locke 648, Marshall 610, Thomas 581, French 451 and Sampson 254. DISTRICT 1 In the one-seat District 1 race in the far northeastern part of the county, Don Thompson, a retired military physician and the Republican nominee for the district, polled 379 votes in a race with Democrat Terry Marek, the state Democratic executive committeeman, who got 81 votes. Independent Hunter Woodall, veterans service officer for the county, got 309 votes. When early and absentee voting was posted at about 8:15 p.m., Thompson led 178 to Woodall's 128 and Malek's 42. DISTRICT 8 In the two-seat District 8 race in the Colonial Heights area, Republican newcomer Stanley Hodges and incumbent Mark Ireson won, outpolling independent Larry Mullenix. Ireson received 1,320 votes, Hodges 1,205 and Mullenix 441. OTHER CONTESTED RACES Among other contested races on the general election ballot, Republican Sheriff Jeff Cassidy fended off independent challenger Jamie Free, a former deputy, 15,803 to 4,425, according to the unofficial results. In the race for Sullivan County attorney to replace the retiring Dan Street, Republican Josh Rose defeated independent Chris Raines III 13,503 to 5,807. And in a special election to chose a District 6 constable, appointed incumbent Wesley Whitaker won over Doug Woods 1,437 to 1,203 in a race with two independents. NON-CONTESTED COMMISSION RACES Other commission seats were all but decided in the May GOP primaries, with Thursday's voting just a formality for those seats. In those uncontested races, the following Republicans won: Incumbent David Akard, newcomer Kim Harvey and former Commissioner Mark Vance in District 2; Incumbent Andrew Cross in District 3; Incumbents Michael Cole and Joyce Neal Crosswhite and newcomer Josh Hayes in District 4; Former Commissioner Ty Boomershine and incumbent Dwight King in District 5; Incumbents Sam Jones and Travis Ward in District 7; Incumbent Joe Carr and newcomer Todd Golden, also a Kingsport school board member, in District 9; and Incumbent Larry Crawford and newcomer Lakie Derrick in District 10. OTHER UNCONTESTED RACES In other uncontested races in Sullivan on Thursday's general election ballot, Sullivan County GOP mayoral candidate and Kingsporter Zane Vanover, a county commissioner leaving that office after his first term, won unopposed in the general election. Back in May he faced a challenge from county school board member Angie Stanley in the GOP primary. Incumbent Republicans reelected were Trustee Angela Taylor, Circuit Court Clerk Bobby Russell, County Clerk Teresa Jacobs and Register of Deeds Sheena Ramsey Tinsley, while Republican newcomer Craig Ramey won unopposed to replace the retiring Scott McMurray as highway commissioner. Also, incumbent Republican county school board member Paul Robinson, Michael Hughes and Chairman Michael Price were re-elected with no general election opposition.