Election round up: U.S. Senate, school boards, unopposed candidates, judges

U.S. Senate

Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator handily won his party's primary and was projected the winner early on with 85 percent of the vote. His victory came over four GOP challengers.

On the Democratic side, Mark E. Clayton secured his party's nomination out of a field of seven virtually unknown candidates. Corker and Clayton will face off in the General Election in November, with Corker reportedly having more than $6 million for that campaign while none of his Democrat challengers listed more than $19,000 on their financial disclosures.

LSSD School Board race decided by four votes

In the only seat on the Lebanon Special School Board up for grads on Thursday, challenger Johnie Peyton defeated incumbent Steve Jones by a mere four votes, 1,468 to 1,464. Steve Jones has served on the board since August 1988 and he has served as chairman of the board since September 1992. It remains to be seen if Jones will ask for a recount.
 
Wilson County School Board

In a tight race, incumbent Vikki Atkins lost to challenger Wayne NcNeese  who will replace her to represent Zone 1 on the Wilson County School Board. McNeese garnered 54 percent of the total - 1,279 votes, while Atkins received 46 percent - 1,082 votes.

Don R. Weathers (Zone 3) and Greg Lasater (Zone 5) were both unopposed for their seats on the county school board.

Unopposed candidates

Several candidates found themselves unopposed in this primary election. Mark Pody was unopposed in his party to remain the representative for the 46th District in the state House of Representatives. Since the Democrats didn't field a candidate in this race, barring a candidate with a sterling write-in campaign, Pody will be returning to the state house.

Jack F. Pratt, Jr. had no opponent this year and will thus remain the Wilson County Assessor of Property. He celebrated his bloodless win Thursday night at a local restaurant. He ran a campaign despite his lack of an opponent and collected 10,658 votes.

Judges

Wilson County voters were also asked wether or not they wished to "retain" or "replace"  Jeffrey S. Bivins and Roger A. Page in the office of judge of the Tennessee Court of Appeals - Bivins in the  Middle Division and Page in the Western Division.

Voters opted to retain both judges – Bivins by a vote 7,722 to 3,342 and  Page by a vote of 7,629 to 3,348.