February 9, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
Early voting begins Wednesday, February 12 for the March 3 primaries
The Tennessee Presidential Preference Primaries will be held across the state for both the Democratic and Republican parties while locally the DeKalb County Democratic Primary will be held along with a primary for a special judgeship election.
Voters will be going to the polls to select their preference for President, the Republican nominee for Criminal Court Judge Part II, and the Democratic party nominees for Assessor of Property and Constable in 6 of the 7 districts.
Early Voting begins February 12 and runs through February 25 (with no voting on February 17, President’s Day). All early voting will be conducted at the DeKalb County Courthouse in Smithville. Early voting hours (available at www.dekalbelections.com) are: Mondays 1-5; Tuesdays 9-1; Wednesdays 9-1; Thursdays 2-6; Fridays 9-1; and Saturdays 9-Noon.
There are 3 Republican candidates for President and 15 Democratic candidates.
The following candidates will be on the March 3 ballot:
Republican Primary Ballot
• Donald J. Trump
• Joe Walsh
• Bill Weld
Democratic Primary Ballot
• Michael Bennet
• Joseph R. Biden
• Michael R. Bloomberg
• Cory Booker
• Pete Buttigieg
• Julián Castro
• John K. Delaney
• Tulsi Gabbard
• Amy Klobuchar
• Deval Patrick
• Bernie Sanders
• Tom Steyer
• Elizabeth Warren
• Marianne Williamson
• Andrew Yang
In addition, the Republican Party selects its delegates to the GOP National Convention and there are 29 at-large candidates with all but five committed to President Donald Trump and voters can vote for up to 14 of those candidates. There are eight 6th district delegate candidates with all but two committed to Trump. Voters can vote for up to three in that race. The Democratic Party chooses its delegates by a different method.
Republican Wesley Bray is unopposed in his bid to fill the unexpired term for Criminal Court Judge Part II District 13. No candidate qualified on the Democratic side.
Locally, Democrat Tom R. Duggin is unopposed in his bid to be the party’s nominee for Assessor of Property on March 3. By caucus, the Republican Party chose Shannon Cantrell to be its nominee in August. Both Duggin and Cantrell will be running against each other in the DeKalb County General Election on August 6.
Six constables are unopposed in their bid to represent the Democratic Party for Constable. They are Waylon Kyle in the 1st District, Darrell Johnson in District 2, Paul Cantrell in District 4, Mark Milam in District 5, Jason Brown in District 6 and Johnny King in District 7. No Democratic candidate qualified in District 3. The Republican Party, by caucus, chose Travis Bryant as its Constable nominee in District 3.