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Tennessee Conservative News [By Paula Gomes] –
Voter turnout in Hamilton County was the highest recorded in the last ten years. In 2016, just 15.62 percent of voters in the county cast a ballot in an August election, compared to this year’s 30.12 percent. Historically, summer elections rarely lure more than 20 percent of voters out.
According to data from the Hamilton County Election Commission, more than 65,000 ballots were cast last Thursday despite there being fewer registered voters this year. In 2024, just 36,636 ballots were cast in the August election.
More voters, nearly 10,000 more, also showed up early to vote, more than every early voting period in Hamilton County since 2018 for a midterm primary.
This kind of engagement was encouraged by billboard advertising raising civic awareness from the county’s election commission, along with the county’s GOP who galvanized more than 15,000 individuals to knock on doors and who also committed to billboards, digital ads, direct mailers, and text campaigns.
When the final votes were tallied, voters ultimately selected United States Senator Marsha Blackburn as the nominee for governor for the Republican party with 17,086 votes.
However, the votes combined for her primary challengers proved to be greater with 18,405 ballots cast showing that Blackburn is not the most popular pick of Republican primary voters. John Rose received 11,866 votes, and Monty Fritts, 6,539.
Jerri Green, who won the Democrat primary received 16,812 votes suggesting that the race for governor in the general election may be close in Hamilton County come November.
Earlier this year, a much larger number of Democrats showed up to primaries for Hamilton County offices, with just over half of all ballots pulled by Democrats vs Republicans, something that hasn’t happened in two decades.
Thursday night’s election results showed a close race between Republican incumbent County Mayor Weston Wamp, elected in 2022, and Democrat challenger Mark Herndon who ultimately lost by a margin of about 3,000 votes.
Wamp ultimately walked away a winner with 52.5 percent of the vote with 33,840 votes. In contrast, 30,665 voters cast a ballot for Herndon.
As the numbers came in throughout the night, the two were neck and neck, with Wamp’s victory finally announced at approximately 11:15pm.
Wamp has said that his second term will also be his last.
District 27 incumbent Representative Michele Reneau also won her race against challenger Tony Hullender.
Elected two years ago after narrowly winning a primary over longtime representative Patsy Hazlewood, Reneau spent her first term passing bills that targeted various issues from data centers, and service dogs, to farming. As a constitutional conservative, the one-term representative who holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in public administration, has stated that her priority is to defend constitutional rights, support parents, and protect taxpayers.
Reneau, who has aligned herself with the objectives of the Make America Healthy Again movement, plans to continue to push for similar policies within the state while standing on conservative principles.
In the general election, Reneau will face political newcomer Paige Quirin, the Democrat nominee. Reneau beat her Republican challenger by gaining 6,030 votes to Hullender’s 4,313. Quirin, who had no opposition, received 4,723 votes.
In the race for Republican State Executive Committeeman for Tennessee Senate District 11, Derek Greene prevailed against David Queen 11,991 votes to 9,407.
Tennessee Conservative News Publisher Brandon Lewis publicly endorsed Greene, citing significant differences between Greene and incumbent Queen regarding key Republican party issues and participation in party affairs.
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About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
