Republicans celebrate wins in Carter County, East Tennessee
Published 12:22 am Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders The lines at Happy Valley Elementary (District 5) were long, but voters looked like they were having a good time as they prepared to cast their ballots in the 2022 general election.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Poll workers said that their polling place was continuously busy all day long, with over 900 in-person votes cast by 5 pm at Happy Valley Elementary.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders According to poll workers, more than 400 votes had been cast in person at Central by 6 pm.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Voters wait in line to cast their ballots in the 2022 general election at Central Elementary.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Though not as long as the lines at other polling places around Carter County there was a bit of a wait to cast ballots at Westside Elementary. According to poll workers on site, more than 600 ballots had been cast by 6:30 pm.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders By 7:30 pm election night, the lines at Valley Forge were winding down. A poll worker said they’d had a busy election day with more than 450 votes cast at their location.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders A trio of voter sign in to cast their ballots late on election night at Valley Forge.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders With polls closed, poll workers head into the Carter County Election headquarters to return their machines and the cast ballots to be counted.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Carter County election board member Tom Whitehead retrieves the bags holding votes from the back of a poll workers car for the Watauga district and carries them into election headquarters for the votes to be counted on election night.
Star Photo/Larry N. Souders Carter County Election Board computer technician Brad Dingus (left) hands back a voting machine tally card to Deputy Commissioner Darlene Conley after reading the votes it captured on election day 2022.
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By Danielle Morin
Elizabethton Star
The Republican party celebrated its victory in east Tennessee in the 2022 Midterm Election Tuesday night with candidates winning by impressive numbers.
Bill Lee won re-election of Tennessee governor with 65.6% of the votes while Sen. Rusty Crowe dominated the polls with a 74.98% re-election against Kate Craig. Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger triumphed in the District 1 State House of Representatives race with a 78.2% win against fellow candidates and thanked her supporters in a press release, saying, “I want to thank the thousands of East Tennesseans who have entrusted me with protecting their freedoms and making their voices heard in Washington DC. This election was a referendum on the leftist one-party rule that caused record-high inflation, a border crisis, an energy crisis, and geopolitical instability.”
House Rep. John Holsclaw and Scotty Campbell ran unopposed, both claiming obvious victories. Also elected into office were Wes Frazier, Bill Carter, Michael Simerly, and Richard Barker for Elizabethton’s City Council and Danny O’Quinn and Eddie Press for the Elizabethton School Board – all of whom ran unopposed. See complete results from Carter County here.
Holsclaw said the election was “crucial to turn things around,” adding, “I hope we can continue down the path we are on,” referencing Tennessee’s economic success in light of recent inflation spikes throughout the nation.
Harshbarger celebrated the Republican victories in a press release, saying, “Tonight, across the country, voters rejected Joe Biden and the Democrat’s extremist policies by voting for Republican candidates up and down the ballot. We are on track to have one of the most significant majorities in history.”
With presidential approval rates at a remarkably low 40% according to CNN, the shift in partisan representatives does not come as too much of a surprise. Election officials in Washington County reported an all-time high in voter turnout, with Harshbarger commenting, “[People] are exercising their right to vote, and that’s beautiful.”
Some changes to the Constitutional Amendments were also included in the midterm election. Those Amendments would ensure job security for those affiliated with labor unions, allow the Speaker of the House to step into the governor’s role if he or she is ever unable to complete the duties of office, ban all forms of slavery, and allow church officials to hold seats in either House of the legislature. According to reports, all amendments were voted in favor of within Carter County districts.
