Robin Smith is a Republican candidate for House District 26State and local elections Thursday produced few surprises other than Republican gubernatorial nominee Bill Lee's sizable victory.
But here are a few points to ponder:
-Lee not only won the statewide Republican nomination with more than 36 percent of the primary vote, but he did even better in Hamilton County with 44.4 percent. Indeed, in the county, he received more than U.S. Rep. Diane Black and businessman Randy Boyd combined.
-State House District 26 Democratic voters curiously nominated a candidate who had moved out of the district and didn't campaign to be their party's nominee. Jean-Marie Lawrence received 1,971 votes to David Jones' 1,668 but, if she wins in November and moves back in the district, will be perfectly legitimate. If she wins and does not move back to the district, the state General Assembly will take up the matter. Unopposed Republican nominee Robin Smith, meanwhile, awaits a judge's decision to see whether her name can stay on the November ballot. Democrats filed suit to prevent it, saying the Hamilton County Election Commission shouldn't have reopened qualifying after state Rep. Gerald McCormick withdrew from the race.
-Depending on whether Republican factions make up, Esther Helton's narrow, 140-vote victory in what was a bruising contest with Jonathan Mason for the GOP nomination in state House District 30 could entice voters to consider a Democrat for the seat for the first time in more than 30 years. Her November opponent, Joda Thongnopnua, is bright, well financed and had no primary opponent.
-Many of the same voters who rejected Yusuf Hakeem for a sixth full term on the Chattanooga City Council in 2017 overwhelmingly made him the Democratic nominee for the state House District 28 seat on Thursday.
-Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger handily won re-election with 60.3 percent of the vote over newcomer Aloyse Brown Thursday, but it was the closest mayor's race in at least 30 years. Coppinger won a special election for mayor in 2012 with 68.5 percent of the vote, then garnered more than 81 percent in election for a full term in 2014.
-The two closest local elections were Tucker McClendon's 132-point win over incumbent David Testerman for the District 8 Hamilton County Board of Education seat and Helton's 140-vote win over Mason.
-Hamilton County Clerk W.F. "Bill" Knowles, 83, just keeps rolling along. Not only did he win his 12th term, but he also won the election's "beauty contest," reaping more votes - 42,803 - than any other local official in the general election.