The first of three major election days in 2024 arrives today, with voting in the presidential and Knox County local primary contests.

Top fundraisers in the recent period: candidates for law director, and a Democrat in Farragut.

There are a total of 12 local contested party primaries, all but one of them on the Republican side of the ballot. Knox County Democrats have only one competitive race to vote in, for the 1st District County Commission seat.

Republicans are choosing nominees in two countywide competitive primaries — law director and property assessor — as well as in six County Commission districts and two school board districts. (You can see a sample Republican ballot here, and a sample Democratic ballot here.)

Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at regular polling sites across the county, although there are five new locations so you might want to check the voting map before heading out.

If you need help making up your mind, below you can find links to all of our coverage of the local races. Those articles have all been moved outside our paywall, so they are free to read and share with any other interested voters.

Although Democrats don’t have many competitive primaries, they do have candidates on the ballot for the Aug. 1 county general election in every local race except two: the 8th District school board contest, and a criminal court judge position.

The 8th District school board race will effectively be decided in the Republican primary today between Tommy Lakins and Travis Wright, since there is no Democrat or independent on the August ballot. That seat is currently vacant because of the recent death of incumbent Mike McMillan. County Commission plans to meet tomorrow to appoint the winner of today’s primary as the interim 8th District school board member until September, to complete McMillan’s term.

Criminal Court Judge Hector Sanchez, a Republican, faces no opposition in seeking a full term on the bench. He was initially appointed in 2022 by Gov. Bill Lee, to complete an unfilled term.

The Money Race

All other winners of today’s county primaries will go on contested races in August. But they will emerge with different levels of resources, as was made clear by pre-primary financial disclosures filed last week.

The filings cover the period of Jan. 16-Feb. 24, and they show some interesting developments since the previous filing, which covered July 1, 2023, through Jan. 15, 2024. 

The biggest gainer in the recent period was county Law Director David Buuck, a Republican incumbent seeking a second term. He had been outraised by GOP primary challenger Daniel Herrera through Jan. 15. But since then, Buuck stepped it up and took in $24,090 during the subsequent five weeks. Herrera reported $18,582 raised of his own, keeping him still ahead in total donations for the race.

In County Commission races, the top fundraiser for the pre-primary period was actually a Democrat: Arthur Moore, a doctor running for the 5th District seat in Farragut/Concord, reported raising $15,730. With no primary opponent to worry about, he reported $17,630 in cash on hand — more than any of the five Republicans running in the district had left. (Of course, once that five-way race is narrowed to one Republican, that candidate will presumably have some deep West Knox pockets to draw on for the general election.)

Two of those 5th District Republicans also boasted big hauls for the period — Angela Russell had $15,472 in contributions, and Toni Scott had $13,900. They reported $7,193 and $4,547 in remaining cash, respectively.

In the 1st District, Democrat Damon Rawls continued to far outpace the three candidates running. He raised $6,601 for the pre-primary period, compared to $100 for Evelyn Gill, his Democratic primary opponent, and $829 for Republican Justin Hirst. The other Republican running, Charles Frazier, has not yet reported fundraising for the period. 

Another strong Democratic contender appears to be Shane Jackson in the West Knoxville 4th District, who reported raising $10,656 for the period with $12,169 on hand. That’s more raised during the period than by either of the district’s Republican candidates, Garrett Holt ($4,776) and Liz Tombras ($510), although Holt still had $23,861 on hand for the general election. 

If you’re looking for the most cash on hand among Commission candidates, you’ll find it in the 6th District, which covers Hardin Valley and Karns. Incumbent Commission Chair Terry Hill raised $4,500 for the period and had a whopping $36,967 on hand. Her Republican primary opponent, Julie McBee-Fritts, had not filed the most recent disclosure yet as of yesterday, but in the last period she reported just $100 in cash on hand for her grassroots campaign. The district’s Democratic candidate, Daniel Greene, reported raising $475, with $1,241 on hand — about 3 percent of Hill’s total. 

In the competitive 8th District Commission primary, Republicans Adam Thompson and D.J. Corcoran both had large boosts in donations, of $10,330 and $9,015, respectively. The third Republican running, Kara Daley, raised $1,125 during the period. The district’s Democratic candidate, Charles Chandler, reported raising just $320, with $349 on hand.

And in the 9th District, Republican contender Barry Neal raised $7,470 for the period, with $2,054 on hand. His GOP opponent, Andy Fox, raised $3,961 and had $5,334. Democrat Matthew Park reported $4,834 in contributions and had the most on hand of any of the three, at $7,676.

Our Coverage

Here are links to all of our primary election coverage.

“Growth Dominates First Commission Forum”
“School Board Candidates Talk Taxes, Vouchers”
“Early Voting Begins”

“Property Assessor”
“Law Director”

“County Commission District 1”
“County Commission District 4”
“County Commission District 5”
“County Commission District 6”
“County Commission District 8”
“County Commission, District 9”

“School Board District 3”
“School Board District 8”