January 27, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
Mary Alice Carfi is planning to make another run for the State Senate in District 17. She picked up her qualifying petition Friday at the Wilson County Election Commission.
State Senator Mark Pody obtained his petition earlier this month from the Wilson County Election Commission.
Carfi narrowly lost to Pody in the special election in December to serve out the unexpired term of former State Senator Mae Beavers.
But if there is to be a rematch in November, both Carfi and Pody must win their respective Primaries on August 2.
Candidates wishing to run for State Senate in District 17 must qualify for the Tennessee Democratic and Republican Primaries by noon on April 5. That also goes for candidates seeking to run for the State House in Districts 40 & 46 as well as for Governor, Congressman in the 6th District, and the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile in DeKalb County while no new petitions were picked up Friday, four candidates filed their petitions which have been verified including Nicole Wright for Circuit Court Clerk, Wayne Cantrell for 4th District County Commissioner (incumbent), and Beth Pafford for 7th District County Commissioner all running in the May 1 DeKalb County Democratic Primary; and Randy Paris, an independent candidate for County Mayor who will be running in the August 2 DeKalb County General Election.
Both Nicole Wright and Mark Milam are now in the race for the Democratic Nomination for Circuit Court Clerk. The winner will likely face Republican Susan Martin in the August 2 DeKalb County General Election, though Martin’s nomination is not official until the DeKalb County GOP Caucus on Sunday, February 11. Other candidates still have time to enter the race.
In the 4th District, Incumbent Wayne Cantrell and Bobby Taylor have filed their petitions and been verified as candidates for the County Commission. They are seeking the Democratic Nomination on May 1. Two Democrats and two Republicans can be nominated from each district. Dr. Scott Little also has a petition to run for the County Commission in the 4th district in the Democratic Primary but he has not yet filed it with the election commission. Republican Greg Matthews has announced his candidacy for the County Commission in the 4th district, subject to his being nominated by the DeKalb GOP caucus on February 11.
In the 7th District, Beth Pafford is the first candidate to file her qualifying petition to run for the County Commission in the May 1 Democratic Primary. Incumbents Larry Summers and Kevin Robinson have obtained petitions to run for re-election for the County Commission in the 7th district but they have not yet filed them with the election commission. Republican Bruce Malone has announced his candidacy for the County Commission in the 7th district, subject to his being nominated by the DeKalb County GOP Caucus on February 11.
Randy Paris is now formally in the race for County Mayor. He will be running against the Democratic nominee in the County General Election on August 2. No Republican has announced a candidacy for the office. Three contenders are in the race for the Democratic Nomination for County Mayor on May 1 including Incumbent Tim Stribling, former County Mayor Mike Foster, and 3rd District County Commissioner Bradley Hendrix. All three have filed their petitions and been verified as candidates.
The deadline is Noon February 15 to qualify for the offices of County Mayor, Sheriff, Road Supervisor, County Clerk, Circuit Court Clerk, Register of Deeds, and Trustee as well as the county commission (two seats from each of the seven districts in the county).