Republicans Fare Well In Tuesday’s Election

 

            Huntsville, TN (2008-11-04) Republican candidates fared well in Tuesday’s General Election in Scott County capturing most of the state and federal level seats on the ballot.  Locally, Mayor George Potter retained his office in the Town of Huntsville Municipal Election, while Winfield voters were split on their decision on whether or not to retain its two current Aldermen.

            The McCain/Palin ticket was resoundingly successful across Scott County on Tuesday, garnering 73% of the popular vote.  John McCain received 4,931 votes in Scott County, while his Democratic challenger, Barack Obama, received 1,720. While McCain was victorious in Scott County (and Tennessee), Obama won the Presidency to become the 44th President of the United States and the first African-American President to win the nation’s highest office.

            In the race for U.S. Senate, incumbent Republican Lamar Alexander easily captured victory in Scott County, earning 4,501 or 78% of the vote.  Alexander’s Democratic challenger, Robert D. Tuke, received 1,099 votes on Tuesday.  Across the state, Alexander captured 65% of the total vote, 1,568,659.  Tuke received 760,629.

            Democratic incumbent Lincoln Davis was his party’s only victor in Scott County on Tuesday, as Davis easily outpolled Republican candidate Monty J. Lankford, 3,988 (69%) to 1,623.  Across the district, Davis won all but one county in the race for U.S. House of Representatives (4th District), Lankford’s home county of Williamson.  After all the votes were counted, Davis defeated Lankford by 52,338 votes, 146,751 to 94,413.

            The race for the 12th District State Senatorial seat was highly contested Tuesday night, as former Roane County Executive Ken Yager (R) and current Morgan County Executive Becky Ruppe (D) went head-to-head down to the wire across the six-county region.  Throughout the district, each candidate edged out narrow margins of victory.  In Scott County, Yager outpolled Ruppe by just 98 votes, 2,966 to 2,868.  In Campbell County, Yager outpolled Ruppe, 5,680 to 5,090.  In Fentress County, Yager outpaced Ruppe, 2,536 to 3,204.  Yager took his home county too, garnering 11,329 votes in Roane County, as compared to Ruppe’s 10,123.  Yager sealed his victory in Rhea County, outpolling Ruppe 6,621 to 3,597.  Ruppe’s only county level victory came at home, as she outpolled Yager, 3,760 to 2,693 in Morgan County.  Tommy Kilby, a Morgan County Democrat who chose not to seek re-election, left the 12th District State Senate Seat vacant.

            38th District State Representative Les Winningham (D-Scott) was running unopposed in Tuesday’s election and received 4,744 courtesy votes in Scott County.  Across the district, Winningham received a total of 14,221 votes, including Anderson (2,741), Clay (1877), Jackson (2930), and Pickett (1929).

            In all, a total of 6,910 persons (50%) of the county’s 13,886 registered voters cast their preference in Tuesday’s election.  Of those, 3388 persons (24%) chose to take advantage of the state’s 14-day Early Voting period.

            In the Town of Huntsville Municipal election, Mayor George W. Potter staved off the challenge of Alderman Robert Smith, retaining his office for another four-year term.  Potter outpolled Smith, 246 to 214.  The make-up of the Huntsville City Council was greatly altered Tuesday night, as only one incumbent was retained.  Mark E. Love kept his seat on the Council, finishing third in the seven-man race with 195 votes.  Former Mayor Charles (Buster) Sexton garnered the most votes in the race, 236.  James H. West finished second with 230, while Steven Alan Posey rounded out the top four with 194.  Incumbent Alderperson Sharra Crowley and Alderman Wesley Riggins were unsuccessful in their re-election campaign, receiving 187 and 150 votes respectively.  Earshel (Pete) Lawson finished the night with 161.

            The voters of Winfield split the decision on the retention of current Alderman Virgil David Cecil and Clarence Ryan, Jr.  Cecil retained his seat on the Winfield City Council earning 146 votes, while Ryan lost, receiving 66 votes.  Former Alderman and County Commissioner Harold L. Chambers unseated Ryan, garnering the most votes, 149.  Former Alderman Chad Jones earned 98 votes, while former Mayor Bob Strunk gathered 87.  Roger W. Douglas polled 34 ballots.

            All results from Tuesday’s night election are unofficial until the Scott County Election Commission certifies them.

            For precinct-by-precinct results of Tuesday night’s election, visit our website at click here.