Beth Hamrick, bottom left, aids Taylor Walden, 18, as she votes for the first time at the Hamilton County Election Commission on Thursday.
Mary Alice Jordan fills out her ballot during the last day of early voting at the Hamilton County Election Commission on Thursday.
Bill Adams hand out ballots during the last day of early voting at the Hamilton County Election Commission on Thursday.As voters streamed in and out of the Hamilton County Election Commission headquarters Thursday for their last chance to vote early, Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 2.5 to 1.
By noon, election officials had tallied a total of nearly 7,500 voters – about 2,080 Democrats to 5,300 Republicans. That’s more than double the number of early voters in the 2010 primary elections but a tiny fraction of the county’s nearly 220,000 registered voters.
Local party leaders said that based on voter turnout, the Hamilton County Commission and sheriff’s races are drawing the most interest. Seven of nine commission seats are contested, and incumbent Sheriff Jim Hammond is battling sheriff’s office patrol Sgt. Chris Harvey in the Republican primary.
Republican Party Chairman Tony Sanders said turnout was high in Commission District 1, where longtime Republican Commissioner Fred Skillern faces Randy Fairbanks, and in District 7, where three Republicans and two Democrats are waging primary battles for the chance to replace outgoing Commissioner Larry Henry. Three commission races will be decided in the primary.
Democratic Party Chairman Terry Lee thought back to last year’s Chattanooga council elections, where every contested council member – five of the nine races – was defeated.