A hotly contested governor's race and equally spirited contest to replace a longtime congressman in East Tennessee's 3rd District are sparking early voter interest before Thursday's elections.
"We're having an excellent, excellent turnout," said Hamilton County Administrator of Elections Charlotte Mullis-Morgan of early voting, which ended Saturday.
She attributed the more than 13,000 ballots cast in early voting countywide to interest among Republican voters in the high-profile congressional and governor's races and to a few heated local elections.
Mullis-Morgan said the county has more than 207,000 registered voters and that this year's turnout numbers compare favorably to the 2006 midterm elections.
The Republican candidates for governor, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, of Chattanooga; Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, of Blountville; and Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, are vying to face Democrat Mike McWherter, a Jackson beer distributor and son of former Gov. Ned McWherter, in November.
If a Republican wins on Nov. 2, it will be the first time an East Tennessean has been governor since current U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander left office in 1987.
However, negative campaign commercials, in which the GOP candidates are attacking one another, could benefit an unscathed McWherter in the fall, said University of Tennessee at Chattanooga political science professor Richard Wilson.
"The Republican gubernatorial contest has been so spirited that it may help the Democrat in the end," he said.
East Tennessee's 3rd Congressional District, which Wamp has represented since 1995, is being fought over by 11 Republicans, four Democrats and six independents.
Locally, the final elections for County Commission and county mayor are on the ballot, as are races for the Hamilton County Board of Education, sheriff, Juvenile Court clerk and register of deeds.
Polls will be open at the county's 92 voting stations from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.