Poll workers at the Concord precinct, located at Concord Baptist Church, are shown helping a voter register for his ballot
photo by Dennis Norwood
County Commissioner Marty Haynes on Thursday won over Democrat Mark Siedlecki for Hamilton County assessor of property in the contest to replace the retiring Bill Bennett.
School board incumbent Rhonda Thurman won handily, while Kathy Lennon upset Chairman Jonathan Welch in a close race that went back and forth as the returns came in. Challenger Joe Wingate defeated Donna Horn in District 7 by a large margin. Incumbent George Ricks led much of the night before falling to Tiffanie Robinson in District 4.
A Haynes win means his County Commission seat comes open. District 3 School Board member Greg Martin said he will seek the post.
The two assessor candidates had sparred over whether taxes had gone up in recent years in Hamilton County and over the issue of a senior tax freeze.
Mrs. Lennon is a former educator with more than a decade of experience teaching and working as a development coach. Currently working as the director of Chattanooga Workspace, which holds locations in Downtown Chattanooga and Cleveland, Mrs. Lennon cited her experience in strategic planning and management as vital components to her school board candidacy.
Joe Wingate has served as volunteer baseball coach at UT and Arkansas State. He spent four seasons as the head baseball coach at Ooltewah High. He played college baseball at Chattanooga State. He then went on to earn his Bachelor's degree in secondary education from Tennessee Tech in 1997 and his master's degree in educational supervision and administration from Lincoln Memorial in 2000.
Only 29,100 votes were cast in Hamilton County out of 186,384 eligible voters.
Assessor of Property
Marty Haynes 16,104
Mark Siedlecki 12,158
School Board District 1
Rhonda Thurman 2,111
Patti Skates 1,396
Jason Moses 276
School Board District 2
Kathy Lennon 1,791
Jonathan Welch 1,693
School Board District 4
Tiffanie Robinson 807
George Ricks 753
Montel Besley 522
Annette Thompson 94
School Board District 7
Joe Wingate 2,489
Donna Horn 1,166
There were 11,509 ballots cast during early voting, which ended on Saturday.
They included 6,606 Republican and 4,787 Democratic.
Criminal Court Judge Tom Greenholtz is not opposed.
The election winners will be sworn into office at the Convention Center on Sept. 1 at 9 a.m.
Supporters of Marty Haynes, the Republican candidate for Assessor in Hamilton County, held signs and waved at traffic outside the Concord precinct on East Brainerd Road. From left to right are Katie Johnston, Randy Johnston, Christy Johnston, Kruz Smith and Sherri Steventon. Mr. Johnston ran against Marty Haynes in the primary, but said, "It's time for all Republicans to unite."
photo by Dennis Norwood