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Padgett in third place and some other interesting results
Submitted by R. Neal on Fri, 2008/08/08 - 11:12am.
Mike Padgett came in third in the race for the U.S. Senate Democratic nomination. The News Sentinel reported on the front page that Padgett "tied for third," but the State of Tennessee Division of Elections begs to differ:
Bob Tuke 58946 32.3%
Gary Davis 38971 21.3%
Mike Padgett 33341 18.2%
Mark Clayton 32160 17.6%
Kenneth Eaton 14638 8.0%
Leonard Ladner 4668 2.6%
There was another interesting outcome over in Blount and Sevier Counties. In the Republican primary for the State Senate 8th District, Former Rep. Doug Overbey knocked off incumbent Sen. Raymond Finney by a scant 139 votes:
Jim Bishop 977 4.6%
Raymond Finney 10036 47.4%
Doug Overbey 10175 48%
Finney carried Blount Co. by a huge margin, but Overbey scored big in Sevier Co. Which is odd, because I would have guessed that nobody over there had ever heard of him. The 20th House district, Overbey's former seat that he gave up to run against Finney, is a relatively small part of Blount Co. Finney did not concede and says he wants a recount.
Some other incumbents got the boot, including U.S. Rep. David Davis in TN-1, who lost in the Republican primary to challenger Phil Roe by 460 votes. In the State Senate 14th district Democratic primary, incumbent Sen. Steve Roller lost to Eric Stewart by 131 votes.
Sen. Rosalind Kurita narrowly defeated Democratic primary challenger Tim Barnes by only 19 votes in a hotly contested race. Barnes is considering a challenge.
In another "turnout counts" election, Blount County school board candidate Patricia Bell lost by only 14 votes.
In the "poetic justice" department, incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen hammered Nikki Tinker, who drew national attention and the ire of Barack Obama for running racist ads, by more than 60 points in the Tennessee 9th Congressional district Democratic primary.
The Black Wednesday victories in Knox County were real puzzlers, especially some of the margins.
The most surprising to me was the race for Sheriff, with Republican J.J. Jones beating Democrat Randy Tyree by nearly 16 points. I really thought it would be closer than that, and that Tyree actually had a chance for a narrow victory. Again, low turnout was probably a factor, as were short memories and scandal fatigue.
The other disappointing result was Property Assessor. Andrew Graybeal was clearly the more qualified candidate, but Black Wednesday candidate Phil Ballard won by more than 25 points. Go figure.
Congratulations to Sam McKenzie in County Commission 1-A, Amy Broyles in 2-B, and Finbarr Saunders in 4-A for their decisive victories.
Submitted by Rigsby Werner (not verified) on Fri, 2008/08/08 - 11:41am.
People are kind of funny when it comes to law enforcement, we want proven ability to put bad guys in jail and make problems with bad guys go away. In all advertising JJ always had his blue uniform on and was seen as the acting sheriff and an active member of the law enforcement community.
Tyree continued to show up in a blazer and a tie, which is what you would expect to see a mayoral/gubenatorial candidate show up in. He was viewed as a political figure looking to find a place to hole up in for the next 4 - 8 years, not exactly going out there to run down bad guys, shoot it out with bank robbers if necessary, or direct traffic coming out of UT football games.
It all revolves around perception and how you approach the position you are seeking and you can't bank on a throw the bum out vote to win an election.
Submitted by R. Neal on Fri, 2008/08/08 - 11:47am.
Yes, that image sold this time. But Sheriff is an administrative job in charge of a huge budget. If I recall, their only official law enforcement duty defined in the Tennessee Constitution is jailer.
>>I really thought it would be closer than that, and that Tyree actually had a chance for a narrow victory. Again, low turnout was probably a factor, as were short memories and scandal fatigue.<<<
Or long memories. Tyree's administrative skills left something to be desired last time around (or so I've heard). And there was that Butcher scandal thingy on his watch.
The problem isn't how many people voted. The problem his how few are paying enough attention and have sufficient clue and involvement to vote in a primary and how many barely aware sheeple are going to show up at the general to punch a button for whoever has the most yard signs.
Submitted by Rigsby Werner (not verified) on Fri, 2008/08/08 - 2:40pm.
He had no issue to beat the existing sheriff's office over the head with, there was no scandal in the sheriff's office. No unsolved/unresolved crimes to rail away on. (Most of the recent rash of bank robberies have occured in the city, not the county) and Tyree was left out in the harbor with "This time YOU decide" which really never got any traction because there was no general frustration with the competency/operation of the Knox County Sheriff's Department.
Had an existing Knoxville Police Department officer been interested in the race, he would have made a much better candidate that Randy Tyree. Mike Padgett would have been a much better democratic candidate for Sheriff than Tyree, although I doubt Padgett would really be interested in going from his previous position to jumping into the broiler known as local law enforcement. Everything about Randy Tyree begins with the word - Former - police office, mayor, candidate for governor, friend of the Butcher brothers, defendant in lawsuit regarding campaign indebtedness, etc. Not exactly the thing you need to shake loose a career law enforcement officer in a sheriff's race.
The duties and obligations of the Knox County Sheriff are defined by the State constitution, the laws of the State of Tennessee regarding the operation of the Sheriff's Department (white cars with a green stripe is all you get) and the Knox County Charter, all in that order and while operation of the jail is responsibility one in the myriad of applicable laws, I'm not so sure that can be equated to job one when approaching that office. Tyree never made mention of the operation of the jail at anytime during the campaign.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2008/08/08 - 9:43pm.
I have to agree that it is sad how few voters actually turned out when so much was at stake. We get what we deserve there. If no one gives enough of a dang about how our government has been run to bother voting, then I guess it's lobsters for all. Gimme that p-card.
But on Padgett. Anyone who has been around the system for any length of time and has been paying any attention knows that "Smilin' Mike" only smiles when it profits him personally. This guy has tried to pull some pretty shady deals through his son's company, that aren't much more than schemes to profit Smilin' Mike. Mr. Arnett has a heck of a job ahead of him cleaning up the stuff that Smilin' Mike left behind. I hope he's up to the task.
I'm a democrat. But, I'm a democrat that has a distaste for crooked politicians. If you really knew Smilin' Mike, you'd know why I speak against him. I hope he doesn't take his defeat on the state-wide basis as any kind of endorsement at the local level. It's easy to endorse the "local guy," but do a little more research before you put your name on the endorsement. Just being a democrat doesn't mean you have to stand for corrupt government--that role is left for the GOP!. If you believe everything that's put out in front of you, you're no better than a wingnut.
...a Padgett employee when "Smilin' Mike" hit the road.
Submitted by Carole Borges on Fri, 2008/08/08 - 11:45pm.
The strangest quote I heard all day was a woman talking about being a poll watcher at a voting site where a young man drifted in, saw people voting, and asked,"Is it free?"
God save us, and may all the people who died trying to own the privilege to vote forgive those who haven't got a clue what it means to be a particiating citizen in a democracy.
I know progressives were somewhat split on the Overbey-Finney race, but I had no doubts about my attitudes on this. Overbey may be an insider kool kids klub Republican. But he isn't an utter embarrassment like Right Wing Raymond. Finney's environmental record was admirable, but it came nowhere near enough to outweigh his extremist social agenda. Finney made non-Christians like me feel like second-class citizens.
People are kind of funny when it comes to law enforcement, we want proven ability to put bad guys in jail and make problems with bad guys go away. In all advertising JJ always had his blue uniform on and was seen as the acting sheriff and an active member of the law enforcement community.
Tyree continued to show up in a blazer and a tie, which is what you would expect to see a mayoral/gubenatorial candidate show up in. He was viewed as a political figure looking to find a place to hole up in for the next 4 - 8 years, not exactly going out there to run down bad guys, shoot it out with bank robbers if necessary, or direct traffic coming out of UT football games.
It all revolves around perception and how you approach the position you are seeking and you can't bank on a throw the bum out vote to win an election.
Yes, that image sold this time. But Sheriff is an administrative job in charge of a huge budget. If I recall, their only official law enforcement duty defined in the Tennessee Constitution is jailer.
>>I really thought it would be closer than that, and that Tyree actually had a chance for a narrow victory. Again, low turnout was probably a factor, as were short memories and scandal fatigue.<<<
Or long memories. Tyree's administrative skills left something to be desired last time around (or so I've heard). And there was that Butcher scandal thingy on his watch.
With Jones winning with 11.04% of the registered vote it's hard to say much about what his victory means. If anything.
Maybe voting booths should be in Wal-Mart and offer some discount coupons if you vote.
The problem isn't how many people voted. The problem his how few are paying enough attention and have sufficient clue and involvement to vote in a primary and how many barely aware sheeple are going to show up at the general to punch a button for whoever has the most yard signs.
He had no issue to beat the existing sheriff's office over the head with, there was no scandal in the sheriff's office. No unsolved/unresolved crimes to rail away on. (Most of the recent rash of bank robberies have occured in the city, not the county) and Tyree was left out in the harbor with "This time YOU decide" which really never got any traction because there was no general frustration with the competency/operation of the Knox County Sheriff's Department.
Had an existing Knoxville Police Department officer been interested in the race, he would have made a much better candidate that Randy Tyree. Mike Padgett would have been a much better democratic candidate for Sheriff than Tyree, although I doubt Padgett would really be interested in going from his previous position to jumping into the broiler known as local law enforcement. Everything about Randy Tyree begins with the word - Former - police office, mayor, candidate for governor, friend of the Butcher brothers, defendant in lawsuit regarding campaign indebtedness, etc. Not exactly the thing you need to shake loose a career law enforcement officer in a sheriff's race.
The duties and obligations of the Knox County Sheriff are defined by the State constitution, the laws of the State of Tennessee regarding the operation of the Sheriff's Department (white cars with a green stripe is all you get) and the Knox County Charter, all in that order and while operation of the jail is responsibility one in the myriad of applicable laws, I'm not so sure that can be equated to job one when approaching that office. Tyree never made mention of the operation of the jail at anytime during the campaign.
I have to agree that it is sad how few voters actually turned out when so much was at stake. We get what we deserve there. If no one gives enough of a dang about how our government has been run to bother voting, then I guess it's lobsters for all. Gimme that p-card.
But on Padgett. Anyone who has been around the system for any length of time and has been paying any attention knows that "Smilin' Mike" only smiles when it profits him personally. This guy has tried to pull some pretty shady deals through his son's company, that aren't much more than schemes to profit Smilin' Mike. Mr. Arnett has a heck of a job ahead of him cleaning up the stuff that Smilin' Mike left behind. I hope he's up to the task.
I'm a democrat. But, I'm a democrat that has a distaste for crooked politicians. If you really knew Smilin' Mike, you'd know why I speak against him. I hope he doesn't take his defeat on the state-wide basis as any kind of endorsement at the local level. It's easy to endorse the "local guy," but do a little more research before you put your name on the endorsement. Just being a democrat doesn't mean you have to stand for corrupt government--that role is left for the GOP!. If you believe everything that's put out in front of you, you're no better than a wingnut.
...a Padgett employee when "Smilin' Mike" hit the road.
The strangest quote I heard all day was a woman talking about being a poll watcher at a voting site where a young man drifted in, saw people voting, and asked,"Is it free?"
God save us, and may all the people who died trying to own the privilege to vote forgive those who haven't got a clue what it means to be a particiating citizen in a democracy.
I know progressives were somewhat split on the Overbey-Finney race, but I had no doubts about my attitudes on this. Overbey may be an insider kool kids klub Republican. But he isn't an utter embarrassment like Right Wing Raymond. Finney's environmental record was admirable, but it came nowhere near enough to outweigh his extremist social agenda. Finney made non-Christians like me feel like second-class citizens.
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