Rhea County will have a new General Sessions Judge on Sept. 1. In an upset, incumbent General Sessions Judge Shannon Garrison lost to Jace Cochran. Assistant Attorney General David Shinn came in third with 465 votes. Judge Garrison switched to the Republican Party in January from being a Democrat. There was not a Democratic candidate.
In 2010 in a hard-fought race for Rhea County’s General Sessions Judge, Democratic candidate Garrison had defeated Republican Carol Ann Barron by 53 votes out of a total of 6,353 votes.
Independent candidate Larry Roddy received nearly 17 percent with 1,076 votes. Judge Garrison replaced long time General Sessions Judge Jimmy McKenzie who had held the position since 1998.
Sheriff Mike Neal will continue for the next four years. Elected to the office in 2002, he will be the longest serving Sheriff in Rhea County history. Challenger Cary Taylor finished with 2,589 against Sheriff Neal's 2,750. There was not a Democratic candidate.
In the only contested school board race, Dennis Akin defeated incumbent 7th district school board member Dale Harris. Mr. Akin will face Doug Colvin in the August General Election.
In the only other contested race for Circuit Court Judge Part II, Rhea County native Andrew Cunnyngham outpolled Jasper Attorney John "Cam" Cameron 2,326 to 1,871 in Rhea County. However, attorney Cameron won overall since he won in the other counties to take the seat. The district includes Bledsoe, Sequatchie, Marion and Franklin Counties.
Incumbent Judge Justin Angel and newcomer Bradley Sherman faced no opposition in their races. No candidates filed in the Democratic primary.
A total of 5,575 people voted in the election down a bit from the 2018 election. According to Rhea County Election Administrator Tom Davis, most of the votes came in early voting.