Beyond the totals

The winners were known Thursday night. The final numbers told Warren County who won.

But a precinct-by-precinct examination of the Aug. 6 election tells considerably more about how they won.

From Terry Bell’s countywide sweep in the county executive race to James “Bo” Ramsey’s strength in his home community of Centertown and a three-way district attorney battle in which each candidate carried at least two precincts, Warren County’s 20 voting precincts reveal patterns that aren’t apparent from the countywide totals alone.

A total of 8,775 ballots were counted in Warren County, including 4,986 cast during walk-in early voting, 3,681 on Election Day and 108 absentee ballots. All 20 precincts reported Thursday night.

The results remain unofficial. All totals must be verified and certified by the Warren County Election Commission before becoming official.

Main Street Journal reviewed the Election Commission’s election-night summary and individual precinct reports to examine where candidates performed best, where races were closest and what the countywide numbers alone don’t show.

Want to dig into the numbers yourself? Main Street Journal has compiled a complete spreadsheet of Warren County's unofficial Aug. 6 election results, including local, state and federal races, county commission and school board contests, constable races, party executive committee results and judicial retention votes. Click below to download the complete results, including precinct totals in the major countywide races.

Bell sweeps all 20 precincts

There was little geographic mystery behind Bell’s reelection as Warren County executive.

Bell received 5,783 votes to 1,916 for Democratic challenger J.C. Petit Jr., 424 for independent James Ferrell and 268 for independent Jason McEwen. Another 13 write-in votes were recorded.

Among the four named candidates, Bell received 68.9% of the vote.

More significant than the size of the victory was its breadth.

Bell carried all 20 Warren County precincts, winning in McMinnville-area boxes as well as rural communities across the county.

County Executive by precinct

Bell’s strongest raw margin over Petit came at Friendship, where he received 536 votes to Petit’s 138, a 398-vote advantage. He also won Shellsford Baptist Church 499-123.

But, not surprisingly, Bell’s most dominant showing proportionally came in Midway, where Bell and his family have longstanding ties to the community and its Community Improvement Club.

Bell received 235 votes there. Petit, Ferrell and McEwen combined received just 41.

Petit came closest to Bell at the Chamber of Commerce precinct, but Bell still prevailed 80-54 over his nearest opponent in the four-candidate field.

The pattern is unmistakable: Bell’s 3,867-vote advantage over Petit was not built in one section of Warren County. It came from winning everywhere.

Ramsey finds strength at home, but Matheny wins 15 precincts

The race for Warren County sheriff produced a considerably different map.

Incumbent Jackie Matheny Jr. won another term with 4,784 votes, while Ramsey received 3,829. One write-in vote was recorded.

Matheny’s countywide margin was 955 votes, but unlike Bell, he did not sweep the county.

Ramsey carried five of Warren County’s 20 precincts, and two of those victories came in his home community of Centertown.

Sheriff by precinct

Ramsey’s Centertown support stands out.

He won Centertown UMC 201-194 and carried Centertown CIC by a larger 223-179 margin. Combined, Ramsey defeated Matheny 424-373 across the two Centertown precincts, giving him a 51-vote advantage in his home community.

Ramsey also carried the Chamber of Commerce precinct 95-70, Three Star Mall 190-160 and edged Matheny by just three votes, 214-211, at Caney Fork Auditorium.

Matheny, however, carried the other 15 precincts and accumulated much larger margins in several of them.

His largest came at Hwy. 56 Church of Christ, where he defeated Ramsey 329-189. He won Morrison 362-235, Smartt First Baptist 315-198 and Shellsford Baptist Church 397-297.

The map helps explain how a race that was competitive in several areas still ended with a comfortable Matheny victory. Ramsey established identifiable pockets of strength, particularly in Centertown, while Matheny’s support was broader across Warren County.

Three candidates, three different areas of strength in DA race

The most geographically varied of the major races may have been the contest for 31st Judicial District Attorney General.

Matt Colvard led Warren County with 3,387 votes, followed by Randal Gilliam with 2,771 and Lisa Zavogiannis with 2,408. Four write-in votes were recorded.

Colvard carried 16 of Warren County’s 20 precincts.

Gilliam and Zavogiannis each carried two.

District Attorney by precinct

Some of the most interesting numbers came from the four precincts Colvard did not carry.

At Lucky CIC, only six votes separated all three candidates. Gilliam won with 108, Zavogiannis had 106 and Colvard finished with 102.

Zavogiannis won the Chamber of Commerce precinct by just three votes over Gilliam, 61-58, with Colvard at 50. She also carried Three Star Mall with 127 votes to Gilliam’s 112 and Colvard’s 110.

Gilliam’s strongest breakthrough came at Shellsford Baptist Church, where he defeated Colvard 279-228 and Zavogiannis finished with 184.

Colvard, meanwhile, came within four votes of making his precinct count 17 at Centertown CIC, where he edged Gilliam 146-142. His largest precinct margin came at Friendship, where his 340 votes were 134 more than Gilliam’s 206.

The Warren County totals did not alone determine the winner because the 31st Judicial District also includes Van Buren County, but they show a race with distinctly different pockets of support.

Commission races decided neighborhood by neighborhood

County Commission races provide an even more localized look at Warren County politics.

Each of the county’s 12 commission districts elects two representatives, meaning finishing second can be every bit as important as finishing first.

County Commission results

District 10 produced the closest race for first place, with incumbent Gary Prater finishing just 13 votes ahead of fellow incumbent Cole Taylor, 456-443. Both retained their seats, while Brandon Knight finished with 267.

District 12 had a much closer contest for the second and final seat. Carl D. Bouldin led with 366, while incumbent Kenny Moffitt received 239 to Tommy Davenport’s 216. Just 23 votes separated Moffitt from Davenport.

In District 4, James A. Zahn led with 264 votes while incumbent Blaine Wilcher retained the other seat with 234. David Dunlap received 148 and Dustin Stoetzel 49.

District 9 provides a particularly good example of how voting can change within a commission district.

Carlene Brown led the Morrison precinct with 307 votes, followed by Stephen Potter at 235 and Richard G. Blackburn Jr. at 192. But Viola preferred Potter, who received 94 votes there to Blackburn’s 86 and Brown’s 81.

When the two precincts were combined, Brown finished first districtwide with 388 and Potter secured the second seat with 329.

Hillis sweeps four precincts; Cope wins big

The contested School Board races were considerably less complicated.

Monti McMahan Hillis defeated Nikki Griffith Reynolds 1,010-686 in School Board District 1 and carried all four precincts participating in the race.

At the Courthouse, Hillis won 312-201. She carried the Airport 234-151, Westwood Church of Christ 182-134 and Smartt First Baptist 282-200.

School Board results

Hillis received 59.6% of the votes cast for the two named candidates.

School Board Chairman Chris Cope won even more decisively in District 5, defeating James T. Jacobs 1,025-427, or 70.6% of the named-candidate vote.

Cope swept the four precincts in his race: Morrison 373-171, Viola 116-65, Centertown UMC 264-103 and Centertown CIC 272-88.

James Hines was elected without opposition in District 3 with 748 votes.

Most voters were finished before Thursday

Perhaps the broadest lesson from the election has nothing to do with an individual candidate.

Most Warren County voters who participated had already voted before Election Day began.

Of the 8,775 ballots counted, 4,986 were cast during walk-in early voting. Another 108 were absentee ballots, while 3,681 were cast Thursday.

That means 58% of participating voters had cast a ballot before Election Day when absentee ballots are included.

The trend has practical implications for campaigns. By the time candidates reach the traditional final push before Election Day, a majority of the people who will participate may have already made their choices.

Warren County makes its own choices in state races

The state and federal primaries also produced several noteworthy Warren County results.

In the Republican gubernatorial primary, John Rose led Warren County with 2,554 votes, followed by Marsha Blackburn with 2,106 and Monty Fritts with 1,842.

In the Republican primary for Tennessee House District 43, incumbent Paul Sherrell defeated Dewayne Howard 4,174-1,956 in Warren County.

Scott DesJarlais received 3,836 Warren County votes in the Republican U.S. House District 4 primary, defeating a field that included Warren County challenger Thomas E. Davis, who received 1,470 locally. Harold “Rocky” Jones received 489 and Joshua James received 225.

Those races, along with the U.S. Senate contests, Democratic primaries, state executive committee races, constable elections, unopposed county offices and judicial retention questions, are included in Main Street Journal’s complete election results spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet and all figures in this analysis are based on unofficial election-night reports provided by the Warren County Election Commission. All results must be verified and certified by election officials before becoming official.

But the precinct numbers already reveal considerably more than a list of winners.

Bell won everywhere, with an especially emphatic showing in the Midway community where his family has deep roots. Ramsey’s home base of Centertown emerged clearly on the sheriff’s map, but Matheny’s support extended across enough of the rest of Warren County to give him a comfortable victory. The district attorney race produced three distinct pockets of support and several remarkably close precincts. And commission races demonstrated again how a few dozen votes within a single community can determine who represents it for the next four years.