TennesseeTicket

My district is represented on the Hamilton County Board of Education by Chairman Kenny Smith. This district will be on the ballot in 2010, so there's nothing I can do about the various school board elections happening elsewhere around the county.

There is no one opposing Assessor of Property Bill Bennett. I may skip this one, and I may not. It won't matter in the slightest.

There are no Democrats running in the primary for Tennessee House of Representatives District 30. Rep. Vince Dean is unopposed in the Republican primary. Whichever ballot I choose (I'm an independent, and Tennessee has open primaries), there's not much for me to do with this one.

The state Senate, District 10 position has a contested Republican primary between Oscar Brown of Jasper and Basil Marceaux Sr. of Soddy-Daisy. These two ran last year in the special election primary, but were handily defeated by Oscar Brock. No Democrats have lined up to take on Sen. Andy Berke, so Berke will face either Brown or Marceaux in November.

There is also a contested GOP primary in the U.S. House of Representatives, 3rd Congressional District race. Teresa Sheppard wants voters to consider her instead of multiple-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp. The lone Democratic candidate is Doug Vandagriff. Does anyone, anywhere know who this guy is? I've seen his name on ballots for years now, but I have yet to find out what he's all about.

The United States Senate seat held by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander is up for election in November, and there are six Democrats vying to cash in on this year's forecast favorable climate for their party and hope it takes one of them all the way. The three moneyed contenders are Ken Eaton, Mike Padgett, and Bob Tuke.

I spoke with Padgett yesterday evening as he made a campaign stop with local supporters Annie Hall, Brent and Lori Staton, and others. He feels confident that his outreach network among local elected officials across the state will give him the victory.

I'm also friends on Facebook with candidate Lenny Ladner, whose lower profile and lack of funds have cost him being allowed to speak at forums; and I have spoken at length and in detail about policy positions with Bob Tuke. I don't know anything about Mark Clayton nor Gary Davis. If I choose a Democratic primary ballot, I will have a tough choice in deciding whom should be the nominee against Sen. Alexander. Lamar faces no Republican opposition, so that would be an easy one.

Now to the big local contest: a special election to name a Sheriff of Hamilton County. Jim Hammond has the money, the resume, and the connections, but something about him just doesn't feel right. Greg Beck has the supporters I prefer and mostly trust, but in my estimation would not be the strongest sheriff. Jim Winters is intriguing, in some ways; but is off-putting in others. Tim Akins seems like a great guy, and I'll leave it at that. Fred Fuson is another option, and it will be interesting from a purely election-geek perspective to see how well his write-in campaign performs next week.

Oh, and there are those judicial retention questions. Gaw. Shall each one "be elected and retained in office?" How about "shall I refrain from casting a thoroughly uninformed vote?" Yes, the Judicial Evaluation Commission recommended retaining all of them. But who are they?

Finally, are you interested in seeing the outcome of my decisions? Votes are a private matter, but there is no restriction on making them public. Leave a comment if you feel strongly one way or the other.