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Election 2018

Election results, November 2018

Nov 6th, 2018
by Ellen Smith.
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Election Day is over, and the unofficial results show that the four City Council incumbents were re-elected to four-year terms.

Here are the vote totals, in rank order:

  • Warren Gooch 7,916
  • Kelly Callison 7,665
  • Ellen Smith 7,132
  • Rick Chinn 6,616
  • Tim Stallings 6,219

So it’s time for me (and Warren, Kelly, and Rick) to settle in for a new four-year term on City Council!

Thanks to everyone who supported me in this election.

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Amazing voter turnout

Oct 22nd, 2018
by Ellen Smith.
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Crowded parking lot at Midtown early voting site
I have voter numbers for the first 4 days of early voting in the Anderson County part of Oak Ridge:

  1. 673 on the first day of early voting (October 17)
  2. 610 on October 18
  3. 671 on October 19
  4. 199 on October 20 (Saturday, polls open just 3 hours)

That’s 2153 in total — nearly 14% of the total registered voters! Amazing.

And it was still very busy this morning!

ADDED Tuesday, Oct. 23: 648 Oak Ridgers in Anderson County voted on Monday.

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Candidate forums for the city election

Oct 11th, 2018
by Ellen Smith.
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There are several upcoming opportunities for Oak Ridgers to meet and hear from candidates for city office.

  • Thursday evening (October 11) at 7 pm, there’s a City Council candidate forum on local cable channel 12 (on Comcast; it may not be available to AT&T customers). The five candidates for 4-year terms on Council have been invited to participate.
  • Tuesday afternoon, October 16, 4-6 pm, is a “Popcorn and Politics” event at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, where attendees can meet various local candidates.
  • The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge candidate forum is Tuesday, October 16, at 7:00 p.m. in the Oak Ridge High School Amphitheater, 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The press announcement says that candidates running for Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education have been invited to participate, and Darrell Richardson has been invited to moderate. Although one of the candidates for City Council (Derrick Hammond, running for the two-year unexpired term) and all three candidates for the Board of Education are unopposed, because several of these candidates are new to Oak Ridge voters, to become better acquainted with the new candidates and reacquainted with the opinions of incumbents, the League is inviting all candidates to give opening statements, answer questions from the audience and the moderator, and give closing statements.
  • Thursday, October 18, 7-8:30, there’s an informal meet the candidates event at the Oak Ridge Civic Center, sponsored by Democracy for East Tennessee.

I’ll be busy, and I hope to meet some interested citizens!

(p-z)

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Election season 2018 has begun

Sep 27th, 2018
by Ellen Smith.
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Yes, it’s another Oak Ridge City election season in Oak Ridge! What with the excitement over the US Supreme Court and our Tennessee elections for Governor, Senate, US House, and state legislature, it feels like few people are paying any attention to the Oak Ridge election. The only race with more candidates than seats is the four-year term on City Council, where five of us are running for four seats. The League of Women Voters has posted a Vote411 candidate comparison page at https://onyourballot.vote411.org/race-detail.do?id=18069787. So far it’s only sparsely populated with content, but you can read my responses to the League’s questions. Updated: All Council candidates have responded to these questions!

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