March 6,2024
On Super Tuesday the voters in Rutherford County made their voices heard. It is particularly important here as local officials running (except one) have no other party competition in the November election.
In essence we elected two Republican County Commissioners and two Republican School Board members on March 5th.
First of all, Congratulations are in order for the winners. In the Commissioner race Donnie Haulk won over Mike Ledford and current Commissioner Greg Lovelace by gaining 52% of the vote in the primary. Hunter Haynes beat current Commissioner David Hunt with 63% of the vote.
In the School Board race newcomer Thomas Crawford won over incumbent Rick Ficklin by 59% and incumbent Phillip Morrow won over Mike Lugo by 65%.
Here in Rutherford County we have quickly become a “one-party” county over the last ten years with Democrat candidates becoming few and far between. This in essence means that if Democrats want a voice in our local elections they must register, as Unaffiliated for the Primary in order to vote for the candidate they feel will do the best job.
A lot of people, not only in this county but also in the country, have become disillusioned with both main parties, deciding to not be affiliated with either. This is actually making them a force of their own to be contended with.
Rutherford County Registrations (12/17/23) show the following stats.
19,879 Republican
16,105 Unaffiliated
9,858 Democrat
258 Libertarian
6 Green
It has been rumored that some in the Republican Party want to disenfranchise unaffiliated voters from being able to choose which ballot to vote on in a Primary. Since they are seemingly the “only game in town” that would disallow a huge block of voters from participating in electing our local officials. We will continue to closely monitor this rumor.
Regardless voting is important to all of us as local elected government officials control things that most affect our lives at the local level (i.e. taxes, property values, etc.) In this race on 27% of registered voters decided who held this office. Make your voice heard. Vote when the time comes. It matters to us all.
