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Election petitions available Jan. 8
Presidential ballot set for Tennessee
SHANNON CANTRELL
SHANNON CANTRELL

Candidates seeking seats on the local school board, in Smithville, Dowelltown, and Liberty municipal elections, and the races for state representative will be able to pick up qualifying petitions from the election commission on Jan. 8. The petitions must be returned by noon on April 7 to qualify for the elections.

 

The Presidential race and the Tennessee General Elections are set for Nov. 8. The DeKalb County General Election and the Tennessee State primaries are set for Aug. 4 of next year. Local offices to be decided include assessor of property, constables, and three school board seats. The DeKalb County Democratic Primary will be held in conjunction with the Tennessee Presidential Preference Primary on March 1.

 

While Incumbent Assessor of Property Scott Cantrell will face no opposition in the March 1 Democratic primary, Republican nominee Shannon A. Cantrell will challenge him in August.

 

School board seats in districts 4, 5, and 6 will also be up for grabs. W.J. (Dub) Evins, III now occupies the District 5 seat, as well as the chairmanship of the board, Doug Stephens holds the District 6 position, and Kate Miller is filling an unexpired term in District 4.

 

State offices on the block are District 40, currently held by Terri Lynn Weaver, and District 46 currently held by Mark Pody, and 6th District congressman, currently held by Diane Black.

 

Smithville voters will choose three aldermen for the seats now held by Shawn Jacobs, Josh Miller, and Danny Washer.

 

Dowelltown voters will elect a mayor and two aldermen. The current Mayor is Gerald Bailiff, and the aldermanic seats of Joe Bogle and Kevin Kent will be up for election.

 

Four aldermen will be elected in Liberty. Three aldermen will be chosen to serve four year terms, the positions currently held by Jason Ray, Paul Neal, and Todd Dodd. The fourth aldermen will be selected to complete the remaining year of an unexpired term, currently being filled by J.D. Bratten.

 

The qualifying deadline for candidates for the Assessor of Property and Constable in DeKalb County was last Thursday.

 

In the only contested Constable race, in District 1, will see Democrat Jason C. Taylor face Republican Lee Plummer in the August general election. Taylor is unopposed for the Democratic nomination on March 1.

 

Republican Tom Theriaque will be unopposed in the 2nd district. Incumbent Democratic Constables Travis Bryant in the District 3, Paul Cantrell in the District 4, Mark Milam in the District 5, Carl Lee Webb in the District 6, and Johnny King in the District 7 will face no opposition.

 

Secretary of State Tre Hargett has announced the official list of candidates for the March 1 presidential preference primary as well. Hargett presented the list of 14 Republicans and three Democrats to the State Election Commission on Dec. 1.

 

"It is likely one of these men or women will hold our country’s highest elected office. Hopefully Tennesseans understand how much of an impact their votes will make," Secretary Hargett said.

 

The following candidates will be placed on the March 1 ballot:

 

Republican Primary Ballot

 

•Jeb Bush

 

•Ben Carson

 

•Chris Christie

 

•Ted Cruz

 

•Carly Fiorina

 

•Jim Gilmore

 

•Lindsey O. Graham

 

•Mike Huckabee

 

•John R. Kasich

 

•George Pataki

 

•Rand Paul

 

•Marco Rubio

 

•Rick Santorum

 

•Donald J. Trump

 

Democratic Primary Ballot

 

•Hillary Clinton

 

•Martin J. O’Malley

 

•Bernie Sanders

 

Hargett noted that once a candidate is certified for a party primary they are unable to appear on the November 8 general election ballot as the nominee of a different political party.

 

Thursday was also the withdrawal deadline for 2016 presidential delegate candidates. Delegate candidates cannot be considered qualified unless the Division of Elections received a letter from a presidential campaign identifying them. The finalized list is posted at: sos.tn.gov/elections.

 

Both the Tennessee Republican Party and the Tennessee Democratic Party have their own rules about how someone becomes a presidential delegate. The Republican presidential delegates are decided by election, which is coordinated through the division. The Democratic presidential delegates are decided by party rules. More information can be found here: sos.tn.gov/products/elections/qualifying-procedures-2016-presidential-delegates.