CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Voters again made the Bradley County Commission a Republican-only body and tossed out a Bradley County Board of Education member.
In state primaries, outgoing Bradley County Commissioner Mark Hall won the Republican nomination for the open Tennessee House District 24 seat, defeating Israel David Farless, Alan Ledford and Garry D. Moore. He faces Democrat Mallory Pickert in the Nov. 6 election. Kevin Brooks, who currently serves as the District 24 representative, decided not to seek reelection to the state House; instead, he chose to run for Cleveland city mayor.
Republican Kevin Raper defeated Democrat Tammy Davis for District 7, Seat A on the Bradley County Commission, receiving 1,699 votes to Davis' 653 votes. Republican voters decided the body's other 13 seats in the May primary.
"I feel very blessed," Raper said. "I can't tell you how proud I am to be trusted by the citizens of District 7 and how much I want to make them proud of me."
If Davis had won, she would be the first Democrat to serve on the county commission since Jeff Morelock lost his re-election bid in 2014.
"I'm hopeful this will encourage more Democrats and, especially, more women to seek office," Davis said. "A lot of these elections are unopposed, and we need to get away from that."
In contested school board races, Troy Weathers ended Dianna Calfee's re-election bid for the District 4 school board seat, while Vicki Beaty defeated challenger Chris Cassada to win a third term in the District 2 seat.
Weathers earned 1,140 votes to Calfee's 886; Beaty earned 1,858 votes to Cassada's 953.
"I'm just grateful to the teachers, parents and kids who supported me," Weathers said. "Those folks worked hard for me and it humbles me because I do care about those kids and their families."
Weathers' victory returns him to the seat he held for 16 year before his loss to Calfee in 2014.
He has criticized Calfee for supporting the February 2015 contract buyout of then-superintendent Johnny McDaniel, describing the decision as a matter of poor financial management and personal agendas by the four board members who voted for it.
Calfee denied her opponent's allegations, and both candidates called for putting students before politics.
Calfee could not be reached for comment.
Contact Paul Leach at paul.leach.press@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @pleach_3.