Municipal election deadline passes; Activity in County General, too
March 15, 2012

   Both aldermanic positions appearing on the June 19 Brownsville Municipal Election ballot are contested. Incumbent Aldermen Leon King (Ward 1) and John Simmons (Ward 3) have filed for reelection but both face opposition.
   Dell Phillips, Samuel Starks and Barry Presley are all seeking to unseat King.
   Undrae Phillips has challenged Simmons.
   The filing deadline passed Thursday at noon.
County General filings
   The Assessor of Property is the only full time local position on the county’s August ballot. Dare Simpson has already filed to run for reelection, but she’ll face at least two challengers. Former Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joe Ing has filed qualifying papers as has Brownville businessman Scott Barker.
   Daniel Thornton’s seat on the school board has attracted attention. Thornton is the incumbent in School Board District 2 & 6. He hasn't filed for reelection but Freddie Burnette has filed a qualifying petition for the seat.
   Allen Currie has picked up a qualifying [petition to run for reelection to School Board Position 4 & 10. Joe Barden, who held the seat prior to Currie’s election, has also picked up a petition.
   The qualifying deadline for the county election is April 5.

Super Tuesday election results
March 7, 2012

   Rick Santorum is Tennessee's favorite to be Barack Obama's Republican challenger this fall - and Haywood County Republicans agree.
   Unofficial returns from yesterday's Super Tuesday Primary found Santorum a big winner in Haywood County taking 53.16% of the vote. Mitt Romney was a distant second with 22% and Newt Gringrich was third with just under 20%. Santorum won Tennessee. Santorum got 454 votes, Romney 188 and Gingrich 169. Ron Paul is favored by 34 Haywood County Republicans. Even though they have pulled out of the race there were three other Republican candidates that won a handful of votes. Michelle Bachman got 4, Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry 2 each.
   There were 854 people voting in the presidential Republican primary.
   Though there is no challenger for democrat Barack Obama, 484 people cast ballots in the Democrat primary, 11 of those votes were uncommitted — the remainder for President Obama.
   An exit poll conducted by the Associated Press of voters in Tennessee's presidential primary showed Rick Santorum beat Mitt Romney thanks to strong support among born-again Christians. Santorum also led Romney 3 to 1 among those who said it mattered a "great deal" that a candidate shared their religious beliefs.

Haywood and Crockett get new legislative district
January 14, 2012

   Legislators made it official Friday. Haywood County will become a part of House Legislative District 82. Tipton County and Haywood County will no longer be in the same district and that means a new representative for Haywood County.
   District 82 is comprised of Haywood, Lauderdale and Crockett Counties.
   The only thing redistricting lacks is the governor’s signature, and a spokesman in Bill Haslam’s office said that’s expected.
   Legislative boundary changes were required because of population shifts reported in the 2010 census. There are 132 seats in the Tennessee General Assembly.
   Haywood County remains in the same senatorial district where Fayette County’s Delores Gresham is the incumbent.
   Jimmy Naifeh, once the powerful house speaker, has been Haywood County’s representative for about the last about ten years. Naifeh lives in Covington so the new boundary lines make him ineligible to represent Haywood County. Craig Fitzhugh is the incumbent in Haywood’s new district.
   The changes in the districts won’t become effective until after the November election.


Proposed House Redistricting Map - Click image to view PDF


Proposed Senate Map