Months of campaigning was able to work in favor of State Rep. Jon Lundberg of Bristol, who will now be moving across the hall to serve in the State Senate.
The Tri-Cities native carried Carter, Johnson and Sullivan counties to earn the Republican Party nomination for the State Senate seat for the 4th District, previously occupied by the outgoing Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, during the recent Republican primary election held last week. With no Democratic Party nominee, Lundberg will run unopposed in the November general election.
Lundberg was out of the country on vacation when contacted by the Elizabethton Star, but Brandon Johnson, Campaign Coordinator for the Lundberg campaign, was able to share the thoughts and appreciation by Lundberg on the victory.
“I know the Congressman is very, very excited on his recent win in the primary,” Johnson said. “He talked after his win about how appreciative he was on winning the three counties, especially Carter. There was a lot of work put in by the campaign in Elizabethton, spending time at the different events, including coming out to different events like the Covered Bridge Jams and other events in the area. A lot of time and effort was spent on the campaign but it was well worth it to serve our area, like Elizabethton and Carter County, for the upcoming year.”
With early voting and election day voting from six precincts, Lundberg pulled away with 331 votes to win Carter County. Neal Kerney finished second with 221 while Tony Shipley and John Paul Blevins finished with 172 and 51, respectively.
“One of the best things about this primary election is that there were four great choices,” Johnson said. “Mr. Lundberg even said at the start of the election campaign that he was running against anyone, he was running for the opportunity to serve the state. Each campaign was so cordial, and it was a great election. We even spent times sharing pizza during the primary from our tents with other campaigns across the counties. It was a very respectful race.”
Lundberg is the president of The Corporate Image, Inc., a public relations and marketing firm based out of Bristol and also serves as the president of Corporate Marketing, an award-winning marketing and advertising division.
From his time as a representative of the state to working in marketing, public relations and serving as a broadcast journalist, Lundberg has been able to see the needs of the state, Johnson said.
“Once he takes office, I know he’ll be big in workforce development,” he said. “Just this past year, Mr. Lundberg helped put money into K-12 education into the state, most that’s been done in a good while. He’s also going to be smart when it comes to spending, and I know he’ll looking forward to serving with Sen. Rusty Crowe in doing what needs to be done to better serve the state of Tennessee.”