County races suggest voters want change; City commission race suggests city voters don’t
In one of the biggest upsets in recent Henderson County election history, challenger Timmy Dunn pulled off a 47-vote win over incumbent Brad Schneider in Tuesday’s Republican primary for the county judge-executive seat.
Shortly after the final vote tally came in, Dunn told the Hendersonian that the results speak not only to the renewable energy debate and discussion going on in the county now, but also that he was a non-politician who wants to hear people’s concerns.
“People wanted to be heard,” Dunn said. “They’re done with being treated as lesser or smaller.”
Dunn credited the grass roots campaign that he employed with the help of three women—Shannon Hill, Kristen Crook and Stephanie Crisman. He said all of them are just normal, everyday, working people. This win, he said, “It’s for the people.”
Dunn said he’s not yet given any thought to his next challenge facing Democratic primary winner Les-Jenkins Mackey in November’s general election, adding that he was too concerned to about getting through the primary.
“I’ll think about all that tomorrow,” he said.
In the meantime, he said there were plenty of family and friends who had gathered at his Zion home to celebrate Tuesday night, and his phone was going nuts.
“I’ve got a lot of text messages and phone calls to return,” he said.
On the other side, Schneider told the Hendersonian he’d prefer not to do an interview and would let a statement he posted to his Facebook page be his comment.
He wrote:
“The Republican voters of Henderson County have spoken. I wish whoever wins the General Election in November the best. I will root for the new Judge-Executive’s success, because his success is also the county’s. I am proud of what our community has accomplished in the last decade, and I am thankful for and proud of the magistrates who have served with me on Fiscal Court over the years. I truly appreciate the great team of professionals we have in our departments in county government, especially my amazing colleagues in the Judge-Executive’s office. We will all continue to work for the best interest of our citizens for the rest of this calendar year and be sure to leave the new Judge-Executive and Fiscal Court with everything they need to lead the county forward. I thank all the people who voted for me, supported me, guided me, mentored me or just offered me a helping hand or a kind word. It means more than you can ever imagine. A very special thank you to my wife, Kelly Blanford Schneider, and my family for their love and understanding. Great things are happening in Henderson County! I hope we can all pull together to keep that momentum going.”
The final vote tally was 1,465 votes for Dunn and 1,418 votes for Schneider.
A third candidate, Randall Green, tallied 219 votes. Green did not participate in any candidate forums or make any appearances during the campaign.
Les Jenkins-Mackey defeats Lisa Thompson Meyer in Democratic race
Les Jenkins-Mackey, a 26-year-old newcomer to politics, bested Lisa Thompson Meyer on the Democratic side and earned a chance to face Timmy Dunn in November’s general election.
Jenkins-Mackey tallied 1,965 votes while Meyer had 1,583.
One of Jenkins-Mackey’s discussion points throughout the campaign was meeting people where they are at and looking for ways to bridge gaps. During the campaign, Jenkins-Mackey attended Democratic party meetings and Republican party meetings. Similarly, Tuesday evening, he attended the Republican party’s results viewing party at its headquarters.
Reached after the results came in, he said he was still processing winning on the Democratic side, and like Dunn, hadn’t got past this evening, including any plans for the fall campaign.
He coaches middle school track and said he wanted to get beyond state meets in two weekends and then he’d start getting prepared for the next campaign.
Whatever the outcome, the makeup of the next Henderson Fiscal Court is going to look very different, he said.
He encourages people to get involved and don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions.
District 1 and 2 incumbent magistrates ousted
Speaking of the Henderson Fiscal Court’s new look, at least two of the five magistrate seats will be different faces next year.
In the Magistrate District 1 race, incumbent Keith Berry lost to J.R. Stanley.
The Hendersonian sent a message to Stanley after the results came in but he did not respond before this story was posted.
Berry, who is in his second term as the District 1 magistrate, praised Judge-Executive Brad Schneider and his fellow magistrates. Berry also worked for many years as a sheriff’s deputy.
“This court and judge have been the best I’ve ever worked with,” he said.
Stanley had 457 votes to Berry’s 367.
Stanley will now face Democrat Jon Douglas in the general election.
Meanwhile, in the District 2 race, challenger James Franks ousted incumbent Taylor Tompkins. Franks totaled 649 votes to Tompkins’ 340.
Because there is no Democratic challenger in the general election, Franks is the next District 2 magistrate.
Franks said he saw the outcome in his race—and the Republican county judge-executive race—came down to the “devastation” of Robards due to the thousands of acres of solar farms there and the “potential devastation” of 21,000 more acres on which the Rock Bluff Energy Park is proposing wind, solar and battery energy storage.
Franks said he’ll waste no time in pushing to end some renewable energy options in the county. He said early in his term he’ll make a motion for a prohibition on wind energy conversion systems in the county and he’ll continue the work that Tompkins started regarding a total amount of acres in the county that can have solar panels on them.
On the election results, Franks said, “I’d say the voices of Henderson have finally been heard,” and he added that they “couldn’t be more reflective” of people’s feelings about renewable energy.
In the District 4 Republican primary, Kevin Morgan defeated Jay Randolph by a 163 to 90 tally. Morgan will face incumbent Butch Puttman in the November general election.
Henderson City Commission
Ten candidates vied for eight spots on November’s general election ballot.
The top three vote-getters are three of the four current city commissioners. Kelsey Hargis led all candidates with 2,170 votes. She was followed by Nick Whitt with 1,875 votes. In third, Robert Pruit garnered 1,726 votes.
That, according to Pruitt, is an indication that city voters are happy with the work that’s being done by the city.
“It shows people are pleased with the city government we have,” Pruitt said.
Pruitt, who first ran in 2006, is vying for his eighth term. He said he’s the only African American in the city’s history to win double digit elections, including both primary and general elections. When he first ran, he promised a better Henderson and better government.
“And 20 years later, I think I’ve done that,” he said.
Messages were left with Hargis and Whitt but they did not immediately respond Tuesday night.
The rest of the field set for November was fourth place Chris Thomas, 1,425 votes; fifth place Isaac Church, 1,189 votes; sixth place Tom Williams, 1,174 votes; seventh place Cooper Wayne-Benson Beck, 979 votes; and eighth place Kristie Randolph, 959 votes.
Tre Perkins, 949 votes, and Adam Blythe, 835 votes, were eliminated.
