Last Thursday’s voter turnout is being called the lowest in Polk County history as only 1,665 out of the county’s 13,347 registered voters cast ballots.
Voting included the General Election for the county and the General Primary for state and federal offices.
In the only local race drawing competition, incumbent Jason Pankey easily held on to his Assessor of Property seat, defeating Mike Hammons, Gerald (G.W.) Sanders and Paula S. Wilcox. Pankey received 1,078 votes to 325 for Wilcox, 144 for Hammons, and 32 for Sanders. Pankey was the Republican Party candidate while all the three competitors ran as independents.
In other local races:
•Road Superintendent Roy G. Thomason Jr., ran unopposed to retain his seat and collected 1,225 votes;
•Jim Crago with 190 votes and Tim Worthy with 209 were returned to their school board seats from District 3. They were the only candidates running for the two available seats; and,
•Mara Ronette O’Neal, Ronnie O’Neal and Darren Waters were returned to their seats on the Fourth Fractional Township. Again, they were the only contenders for the three seats.
In the Republican race for state senator, Tom Hatcher easily swept Polk County with 964 votes. He will face Democratic candidate Patti Young in the General Election. Across the senate district last Thursday, Hatcher received 12,265 votes and Young received 3,267.
Dan Howell received 1,137 complimentary Polk County votes in the Republican primary for state representative from District 22. Across the district, he received 3,696 votes and will advance to the General Election.
On the Democratic side for the state House seat, Anna Grabowski defeated Stan Hurder 130 to 122 in Polk County. \Grabowski won the nomination district wide 366 to 241, earning the right to face Howell.
Stephen Hatchett received 1,263 votes in the Republican Primary in his bid for District Attorney General. The were no candidates on the Democratic ballot for the office and he faces no opposition in November.
Marsha Blackburn was easily the favorite among Polk voters as the Republican nominee for United States Senate, defeating Tres Wittum 1,154 to 78. Blackburn won the nomination statewide 367,711 to 43,228. She will face the Democratic nominee, Gloria Johnson, in the General Election in November. Johnson received 178 votes in Polk County, tops among four candidates, and 143,904 statewide.
Chuck Fleishmann received the nod from Polk voters for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House, collecting 1,154 votes. He had no opposition. He will face Democratic challenger Jack Allen in November. Allen received 246 votes in Polk County. Fleishmann collected more votes than Allen, 44,976 to 17,914, in separate primary voting across the district.
Polk County’s voter turnout represented only 12.47 percent of the county’s registered voters.
The Nashville Banner newspaper reported a voter turnout of only a little more than 13% in Davidson County, home to the state’s capital city.