Thomas, Witherspoon win big in county election
For more local election coverage, including photos and comments from candidates, pick up a copy of the Trenton Gazette, Mirror-Exchange, Humboldt Chronicle or Tri-City Reporter Tuesday, Aug. 7.
By Crystal Burns
Gibson County Sheriff Paul Thomas and Mayor Tom Witherspoon won handily in their respective three-man races during Thursday’s county general election.
Thomas, an Independent, captured 80 percent to win his second term in office. Thomas received 8,032 votes. His challengers, Taylor Atkins and Jimmy Turner, both Independents, garnered 1,298 and 641 votes respectively.
Witherspoon, an Independent, received 5,380 votes to defeat Republican Tim Curry (2,421 votes) and Democrat Keith Cunningham (2,040 votes).
Circuit Court Clerk Cindy Flowers also scored a commanding victory. Flowers, an Independent, claimed 78 percent with 2,028 votes. Independents Thomas Hartigan and Dawn Shackelford tallied 138 and 408 respective votes.
In the County Trustee’s race, newcomer Melissa Workman (Ind.) won with 4,321 votes, defeating the incumbent Dana Davidson and newcomer Wendy Richardson. Davidson, a Democrat, announced through local media that she would not campaign for re-election although her name would remain on the ballot. She received 3,062 votes. Richardson (Ind.) earned 1,983 votes.
Interim Register of Deeds Barbara Davidson, a Democrat, won her first campaign, garnering 4,635 votes. Independent Pam Dethloff received 3,032 votes, and Independent Chris Younger received 1,765 votes.
County Clerk Joyce Brown was unopposed and garnered 7,711 complimentary votes.
County Commission seats
Bradley Owens received 505 write-in votes to win the District 1 Position 1 seat. William M. Lofton garnered 12 write-in votes.
Republican Eric Egbert defeated Independent John C. Hughey 721 to 476 for District 1 Position 2.
Nelson Cunningham received 1,105 complimentary votes for District 1 Position 3.
Alecia Suzanne Craig received 358 complimentary votes for District 2.
Michael E. Longmire received 425 complimentary votes for District 3.
Yahweh Yahweh Yahweh received 103 complimentary votes for District 4.
Clayton White received 140 complimentary votes for District 5.
Jerry L. Gordon received 231 complimentary votes for District 6.
Jason Tubbs received 300 complimentary votes for District 7.
Kevin Morgan received 358 complimentary votes for District 8.
Larry Kimery received 323 complimentary votes for District 9.
Robin W. Summers received 535 complimentary votes for District 10 Position 1.
Todd Lawson received 491 complimentary votes for District 10 Position 2.
Lynn Nance received 611 complimentary votes for District 11 Position 1.
Rickey Locke received 606 complimentary votes for District 11 Position 2.
Bobby Cotham received 393 complimentary votes for District 12.
Mark A. Flake received 190 complimentary votes for District 13.
Steve “Stevie Ray” Hemann received 269 complimentary votes for District 14.
Don McEwen received 358 complimentary votes for District 15.
Todd G. Littleton received 783 complimentary votes for District 16 Position 1.
Tony Pillow received 733 complimentary votes for District 16 Position 2.
Keith Steele received 415 complimentary votes for District 17.
Travis Landrum received 363 complimentary votes for District 18.
Cody Childress received 813 complimentary votes for District 19 Position 1.
Independent Nathan Reed defeated Independent Jim Cooper 479 to 425 for District 19 Position 2.
Constables
Republican David Brent Paschall and Independents Scottie Betts, Larry W. Morris and Jerry F. Morris claimed the four constable positions for Districts 1-6. Paschall received 1,533 votes, Betts 1,074, L. Morris 842 and J. Morris 819. Kris Nilsson received 547 votes.
No candidate qualified for Districts 7 and 10.
- Michael Shephard received 595 complimentary votes for Districts 8 and 9.
Johnny Siddell received 877 complimentary votes for Districts 11A and 18.
Scott Guy received 1,034 complimentary votes for Districts 11B and 17.
Jay Barrett Black received 529 complimentary votes for Districts 12 and 13.
Jackie E. Martin received 578 complimentary votes for Districts 14 and 15.
Republican Gene Skinner and Independent William Sims claimed two positions for Districts 16 and 19. Sims garnered 1,138 votes and Skinner 1,049. Independent Craig Blackburn received 391 votes.
City
The only city election on the ballot was for Trenton City Court Clerk. Wilma Champion received 591 complimentary votes.
School boards
Bradford Special School District voters re-elected Ricky L. Bratton (504 votes) and elected Charles Cowen (399 votes). John T. Dawson received 305 votes.
Tom Lannom was re-elected to the Gibson County Special School District board, receiving 892 complimentary votes.
Richard Skiles received 239 complimentary votes for the Kenton Special School District board (Gibson Co. position), and Jason Scott Williams received 205 complimentary votes for the Obion Co. position.
State primaries
In the state primaries, Gibson County went for Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd. Boyd out-paced his challengers with 3,681 votes. Bill Lee, who won statewide, received 2,152 votes in Gibson Co. Diane Black garnered 1,221, Beth Harwell 373, Basil Marceaux Sr. 2 and Kay White 10.
Gibson Co. voters fell in line with the state in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, favoring Karl Dean with 1,291 votes. Craig Fitzhugh received 520 votes in the county, and Mezianne Vale Payne 152.
Gibson Co. also followed the state in senate primaries, voting overwhelmingly for Marsha Blackburn on the Republican side and Phil Bredesen on the Democratic side. Blackburn received 5,654 votes in the county compared to Aaron L. Pettigrew’s 940. Bredesen garnered 1,965 votes in the county compared to Gary Davis’ 120 and John Wolfe’s 70.
In the 8th congressional district primaries, Republican incumbent David Kustoff carried the county with 3,684 votes. George S. Flinn Jr. received 3,154 votes, and Colleen Owens collected 315. Democrat John Boatner won the county with 956 votes compared to Erika Stotts Pearson’s 737. Pearson, however, edged Boatner in the district, earning 16,905 votes to Boatner’s 16,739. She’ll face Kustoff in the November election.
Republican incumbent Curtis Halford received 6,583 complimentary Gibson Co. votes in the primary, and Democrat Gregory Frye received 1,611 complimentary Gibson Co. votes in his primary. The district also includes a portion of Carroll Co.
Republican Gary Kee received 5,261 complimentary votes for State Committeeman District 24.
Democrat Don Farmer received 1,824 complimentary votes for State Committeeman District 24.
Rebecca Griffey defeated Elizabeth Betsy Phillips in the Republican primary for State Committeewoman District 24 by a vote tally of 2,573 to 2,473.
Democrat Angela Callis received 1,644 complimentary votes for State Committeewoman District 24.
Overall, 10,328 of the 29,053 (35.55 percent0 registered voters in the county cast ballots. More than 4,300 voted early or absentee, and 6,024 voted Thursday.
All results are unofficial.
