The Tennessee State Primaries and local municipal elections were held last Thursday, with some new faces elected in Alexandria, and the races set for the November Elections.

In the race for an unexpired term for Alexandria Mayor, Beth Tripp won with a total of 88 votes. Her name was the only one to appear on the ballot, though write-in campaigns were held in the race. Rodney Allen Lawson received 64 votes and Russell “Rusty” Allen Bradshaw had 18 votes.

Jonathon Tripp was elected to a full four-year term as Alexandria aldermen with 92 votes. Tripp’s name was the only one on the ballot for the position. Two others, Lucas “Luke” Dylan Prichard and Robert “Bobby” Alex Simpson were elected to a full four-year aldermen term through a write-in effort. Prichard received 74 write-in votes and Simpson garnered 73.

Two other write-in candidates were unsuccessful in their quest for a full four-year term as alderman including Bobbie Jo Ford who received 24 votes and Curtis James Rutter who had 32 write-in votes.

Jeff Ford was elected to fill an unexpired alderman term with 79 votes. His was the only name on the ballot to fill the vacancy.

In the Smithville Municipal Election Jessica Higgins, Shwan Jacobs, and Danny Washer were all re-elected to another alderman term, with Jacobs receiving 203 votes, Higgins, 191 votes, and Washer with 186.

In Dowelltown, no one was on the ballot for mayor or two aldermen seats.

For the State Primary, in the United States Senate race, incumbent U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn defeated Tres Wittum 367,711 to 43,228 statewide in the Republican primary, with Blackburn taking DeKalb County 880 to 86 for Wittum.

In the Democratic Primary, Gloria Johnson came out on top of three other candidates, with 143, 904 votes statewide. Marquita Bradshaw had 44,635, Lola Denise Brown 10,025, and Civil Miller-Watkins 6,420. Johnson carried DeKalb with 212, Bradshaw had 29, Brown 10, and Watkins with 3.

Blackburn and Johnson will now face each other in the November General Election.

In the U.S. House of Representatives District 6 race, incumbent Congressman John Rose ran unopposed in the Republican Primary receiving 38,598 votes statewide. He received 890 votes in DeKalb.

For the Democrats, Lore Bergman won the primary with 8,678 votes, while Clay Faircloth who had 7,468, and Cyril Focht had 4,418. Faircloth carried DeKalb with 102 votes, while Bergman had 97. Focht had 27 votes.

Rose and Bergman will face off in November for a two-year term.

Incumbent 16th District State Senator Janice Bowling was unopposed in the Republican primary and received 14,896 votes. In DeKalb she earned 778 votes. She will face Democrat Wayne Steele, and Independent Scott Bean in November. Steele was unopposed and received 3,051 votes, and earned 202 votes in DeKalb. The term is for four years.

Incumbent State Representative Michael Hale was unopposed in the state GOP primary for the Tennessee House of Representatives District 40 race. He received 4,036 votes district wide, and 936 votes in DeKalb. He will face Democrat Daniel T. Hawthorne in November. He was unopposed and had 819 district-wide, and 214 votes in DeKalb. The term is for two years.

For Democratic State Executive Committeewoman race in District 16, Rupa Blackwell received 3,173 votes district wide to fill an unexpired term, with 211 votes in DeKalb.

In the County races, Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell was re-elected for a third term unopposed with 1,046 complimentary votes.

Sixth District County Commissioner Andy Pack was elected to continued to fill an unexpired term with 114 votes, while Mathias Anderson won an unexpired term with 82 votes in 7th District. Both terms will end in August 2026.

Several Constables won their race unopposed with Tyler Cripps winning 1st District with 243 votes, Danny Adamson in 2nd District with 131 votes, Travis Bryant in 3rd District with 133, 160 votes for Lane Ball in the 4th District, Mark Milam re-elected in the 5th District with 153 votes, and Jeremy Neal getting 90 votes in the 7th District. There was no candidate on the ballot in the 6th District, but Keith Elkins won as a write-in candidate with 6 votes.

Criminal Court Judge, Part III in the 13th Judicial District Shawn C. Fry, won unopposed and in DeKalb with 919 votes.

In the School Board race, Megan Moore ran unopposed in the 5th district, a seat currently held by Jamie Cripps who did not seek re-election. Moore received 131 votes, while incumbent 6th District member Jason Miller reclaimed his seat with 127 votes. 

State judicial questions were on the ballot asking whether Dwight Tarwater be replaced or retained on the Tennessee Supreme Court At Large? Statewide the results were 72.86 percent to retain and 27.14 percent to replace. In DeKalb the vote was 668 to retain and 262 to replace.

The other question, should Matthew J. Wilson be retained or replaced in the State Court of Criminal Appeals-Western Division, Statewide results were 74.06 percent to retain and 25.94 percent to replace. In DeKalb the vote was 672 to retain and 256 to replace.

A total of 1,404 voted in DeKalb County, with 700 casting ballots on election day.  There were 100 paper absentees, and 604 walk-in early votes, with 13,607 registered voters.