Early voting begins Friday in Davidson County and will include the county general election as well as the state and federal primaries, which are to be held on Aug. 1. Polling locations are open at 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday until July 27. (See a complete list of polling locations at the bottom of this post.)
In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Marsha Blackburn faces Tres Wittum as a challenger in the Republican primary. In the Democratic primary for Blackburn's seat, four candidates appear on the ballot: Marquita Bradshaw, Lola Denise Brown, Civil Miller-Watkins and state Rep. Gloria Johnson from Knoxville.
Local activist will run against Republican Andy Ogles in District 5
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles is running for reelection in the 5th Congressional District, with a Republican primary challenge coming from Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston. Activist and founder of the nonprofit Rise and Shine Tennessee Maryam Abolfazli is the only Democrat running in the primary.
U.S. Reps. John Rose and Mark Green are running in their districts with no Republican challengers. Rose's 6th District seat has three candidates on the Democratic primary ballot: Lore Bergman, Clay Faircloth and Cyril Focht. Green is likely to face former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry in the general election, as she is the only candidate for the District 7 seat in the Democratic primary.
Nashville’s former mayor faces an uphill campaign against incumbent Mark Green in Tennessee's 7th
Tennessee's District 20 Senate seat is up for election. It is currently held by Sen. Heidi Campbell, who is unopposed as a Democrat. One candidate, Wyatt Rampy, is vying for the Republican nomination.
Tennessee House of Representative districts up for election that include parts of Davidson County are 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 58, 59 and 60.
District 60 is the contest to watch. With former Rep. Darren Jernigan moving to a job in Mayor Freddie O'Connell's administration, the field is wide open in both the Republican and Democratic primaries. Tyler Brasher, Shaundelle Brooks and John Parrish are competing for the seat. Republicans Chad Bobo and Christopher Huff are aiming for the Republican nomination and an attempt to turn the district red.
Shaundelle Brooks and Tyler Brasher face off in proxy party battle
In another contest of note, Metro Councilmember Jennifer Frensley Webb is running in the Republican primary for District 50. The seat is currently held by Bo Mitchell, a Democrat who is running in that primary unopposed.
District 51 is Democrat Aftyn Behn's seat — she is running fully unopposed with no competition in either primary. Also unopposed in either primary in this election are District 54 Rep. Vincent Dixie, District 55 Rep. John Ray Clemmons, District 58 Rep. Harold Love Jr. and District 59 Rep. Caleb Hemmer.
Rep. Justin Jones is running for reelection to his seat in District 52 with no Democrat opposing him in the primary. Laura Nelson is running for the Republican nomination. In District 53, Rep. Jason Powell is running for the Democratic nomination again and in the general race will presumably face Yog Nepal, a challenger who is the sole contestant for the Republican nomination.
In the Democratic primary, Rep. Bob Freeman faces Nick Forster-Benson in the District 56 election. There is no Republican running so the primary will ultimately decide the seat's representative.
After the Davidson County election primary in March, much of the county's general election is all but decided since many candidates are unopposed.
Stephanie Williams is the Democratic nominee to fill the 20th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Division IV seat with no Republican challenger on the ballot. Current assessor of property Vivian Wilhoite is the unopposed Democratic nominee for the position.
Metro Nashville Public Schools board seats in Districts 3, 5, 7 and 9 are all single-candidate races. In District 1, Demytris Savage-Short is the Republican nominee running against Democratic nominee Robert Taylor.
Oak Hill is also holding its municipal election to vote for two city commissioners. Only two people are running: David DeMarco and Winston Evans.
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
