Voters mark their ballots on Aug. 7, 2014, at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Chattanooga.NASHVILLE – Republican voters going to the polls Thursday will determine whether to nominate Lamar Alexander, a 40-year veteran of Tennessee politics, to a third term in the U.S. Senate.
They will also decide if they want to stick with embattled Republican U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais despite a series of personal scandals that have dogged him since he was first elected in 2010, and whether to retain or replace any of three Democratic state Supreme Court justices up for another eight-year term.
Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Haslam faces no serious opposition in his bid to win the Republican nomination to a second term.
Election officials say early voting ran ahead of the previous record set in 2010, when close to half of the primary ballots were cast beforehand.
Alexander faces tea party-styled challenges from state Rep. Joe Carr and Memphis radio station owner George Flinn, who have tried to cast the former two-term governor as out of touch with Tennessee’s current political landscape.