Menu
State Rep. Grills triumphs in District 77 primary; takes 71% of the vote
WILLIAM NORTHCUTT
Staff reporter
Voting results late Thursday evening saw State Representative Rusty Grills (R) winning the Republican primary race with 71.5% of the District 77 votes (Dyer, Lake, and Obion Counties included) or 4,169 votes. With no candidates from other parties qualifying, the primary win virtually assures Grills of reelection on November 5. Opponent and County Commissioner James T. “Bubba” Cobb (R) garnered 1,660 votes, representing almost 28.5% of the district’s total votes.
Countywide and with 100% of the ballots counted, Grills received 2,437 votes (68.47%), whereas Cobb netted 1,121 votes (31.5%). There were, however, a total of 6 write-in votes for the Democrats.
In the Dyer County primary votes for U.S. Representative, incumbent David Kustoff (R) ran unopposed and netted 2,989 votes. In the Democratic primary, Sarah Freeman won 101 votes (31.27%) compared to Leonard Perkins’s 78 votes (24.15%).
Dyer Countians, in the primaries for the U.S. Senate, gave incumbent Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) a total of 3,107 votes (91.79%), whereas her Republican challenger Tres Wittum received only 265 (7.83%) votes. In November’s General Election, Blackburn will run against current State Representative Gloria Johnson (D), who got 239 of Dyer County’s Democratic primary votes (69.8%). Johnson’s leading Democratic opponent Marquita Bradshaw netted only 79 votes (22.83%).
After the polls closed at 7 p.m., election officials from the 15 precincts streamed in steadily with secured ballots. Smaller precincts Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church reported 46 votes, Hurricane Hill 100, while Fowlkes reported 90 votes.
However, voter turnout was relatively low. Out of 22,042 registered voters in Dyer County, only 3,974 (18.03%) cast ballots. Early voting and write-ins made up slightly over 50% of total votes: 2,019. Election day votes in the county totaled 1,955.
Further results:
(D) State Committeeman D25 unexpired term
Byron Elam, 169 (54.52%)
Toney G. Campbell 140 (45.16%)
County Commissioner District F Position 1 unexpired term
Victor McLin, Sr. (I), 106 (100%)
Assessor of Property
Sheila Ann Holmes (I), 3,276 (99.73%)
Write-ins, 9 (.27%)
County School Board District D
LeAnn F. Childress (R), 464 (99.15%)
Write-ins, 4 (.85%)
County School Board District F
Patricia McCreight (I), 108 (99.08%)
Write-ins, 1 (.92%)
County School Board District H
Jeremy Gatlin (R), 240 (99.59%)
Write-ins, 1 (.41%)
County School Board District J
Sherrell W. Armstrong (R), 526, (98.69%)
Write-ins, 7 (1.31%)
Dyersburg City School Board At-Large Position 1
Courtney Lee Patrick (I), 938 (99.47%)
Write ins, 5 (.53%)
Dyersburg City School Board Ward 1
Carlos Doss (I), 91 (100%)
Dyersburg City School Board Ward 3
Mike Hickman (I), 169 (100%)
Dyersburg City School Board Ward 5
Whitney White Allmon (I), 469 (99.79)
Write-ins, 1 (.21%)
Vote to retain Dwight Tarwater for the Tennessee State Supreme Court
Retain--2,374 (80.37%)
Replace—580 (19.63%)
Vote to retain Matthew Wilson Court of Criminal Appeals Western
Retain--2,410 (81.58%)
Replace—544 (18.42%)