April 7, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Election Commission has a new member.
Marty Jacoby, a Republican, succeeds Republican Brandon Gay who recently resigned from the commission. Gay, who had also served as Chairman, was appointed in January 2022 after his grandmother Barbara Vanatta had stepped down from the election commission.
Jacoby was appointed to his first full term on the local election commission by the state election commission Monday, April 7.
Marty said he and his wife Annie, now both retired, love this community and he is excited about this opportunity to serve the county
“I worked with FedEx for 30 years. I moved to Murfreesboro in 1995, With my work they pushed me to Atlanta, Jacksonville Florida, etc. but I would always gravitate back to middle Tennessee. I knew if I ever came back here with work full time this is where I wanted to be. I moved here full time around 2014 and recently retired. I had been coming up here for many years. This was my dream. I wanted to retire in Smithville. I have been an avid boater for many years coming up here to the lake. I just fell in love with the community. My wife Annie just recently retired from Liberty State Bank where she worked for many years as a head teller. I was looking for a way to serve and give back to my community and this was an opportunity they approached me with, and I was happy to do it,” said Jacoby.
Meanwhile Republicans Loree Farmer Hall and Ronald Dean Sifford and Democrats Kim Driver Luton and Yvette Tubbs Carver have all been reappointed by the state election commission to their second full terms on the DeKalb County Election Commission.
The new county election commission met Monday night, April 7 to reorganize by electing a chairman and secretary. The chairman represents the majority party and the secretary the minority party. Loree Hall was elected the new Chairman and Kim Luton will remain as secretary.
The county election commission members serve by appointment of the Tennessee Election Commission. Local Republican and Democrat parties nominate members to be appointed. The state election commission met Monday, April 7 in Nashville to make the appointments for county election commissions here and across the state.
Since the state legislature is made up of a majority of GOP lawmakers, Republicans hold majority memberships on the Tennessee Election Commission as well as all county election commissions. The appointments to local commissions are made by the state election commission in April of odd numbered years. The term for each member is for two years.
Dustin Estes is the DeKalb County Election Administrator.