County Attorney Keith Bowers Jr. secured the Republican nomination for General Sessions Court Judge, defeating his opponent, local attorney Jason Holly.
Bowers took the lead once early voting and absentee numbers were released shortly after the polls closed at 8 p.m. and was able to maintain that lead throughout the night as precinct totals came in.
At the end of the night and once all the votes were counted, Bowers won the nomination over Holly by a margin of 1,483 votes.
“Obviously we want to thank all the voters of Carter County who supported us. It was a very clean race and a well fought race,” Bowers said, commending Holly for running a campaign free from negativity. “I appreciate that we showed that you can run a clean race.”
Bowers stated that he is looking forward to taking on the position of General Sessions Court Judge. “I appreciate the faith the voters have in me,” he said. “It means a lot and it is a very important position and I appreciate the responsibility of the position.”
According to Bowers, the race is not over yet. He stated that he still has the General Election ahead of him in August and that he will begin campaigning for it immediately. “I won’t take a single day off,” he said.
In other Judicial elections, Elizabethton attorney Lisa Nidiffer Rice secured the nomination for Criminal Court Judge Part I for the First Judicial District.
Rice carried Carter County over her opponent, Assistant District Attorney Dennis Brooks of Jonesborough, by more than 2,800 votes. She secured approximately 66 percent of the votes in Carter County while Brooks garnered 34 percent.
Her numbers in the First Judicial District – Carter, Washington, Johnson and Unicoi Counties – as a whole were only slightly lower.
Rice won across the district with 14,479 votes to Brooks’ 9,617, giving her a decisive 60 percent victory.
The District Attorney’s race was a different story for the Elizabethton candidate.
While attorney Jerome Cochran won Carter County, he did not secure enough votes across the First Judicial District to take the nomination for District Attorney away from incumbent Tony Clark.
While Cochran captured 56 percent of the vote in Carter County, he only won 45 percent of the overall district vote. Clark won the nomination by a margin of just over 2,200 votes.
The following candidates were unopposed for the Republican nomination in their races and will move on to the General Election in August:
Judge Stacy L. Street for Criminal Court Judge Part II.
John C. Rambo for First Judicial District Chancellor.
Judge Thomas J. Seeley Jr. for Circuit Court Judge Part I.
Judge Jean A. Stanley for Circuit Court Judge Part II.