The angry voters speak first

Yesterday's county primaries in East Tennessee told us a great deal about what this year's climate of voter discontent means locally, and the scale of some of the results was indeed shocking, especially in Knox County:
 

 
 I had expected that the popular State Senator was going to win, and deservedly so because of how hard he had campaigned. However, this result was almost cruel to Tim Hutchison, who had served so long as Knox County Sheriff and not terribly long ago enjoyed popularity ratings that made him one of the most popular Sheriffs in the State and certainly one of the most well-liked in Knox County's recent history. Black Wednesday sullied Hutchison's reputation, perhaps permanently, and it may be that after such a landslide defeat that Hutchison's career in elected office is effectively at a close.

What was most interesting, though, was the success of  Hutchison's protege, friend, and successor as Knox County Sheriff:
 

J.J. Jones has come out from under Tim Hutchison's shadow. He engages voters and citizens in a very public way, and invites people to come to know him. I encountered him at the Tennessee Conservative Union Reagan Day Dinner last fall and it was obvious that he was enjoying himself and that people enjoyed being around him. He didn't come across as the stuffy law-enforcement type that some Sheriffs, however well-meaning, seem to project. J.J likes his job and the public, they like J.J.

The countywide race that I was paying the most attention to was the campaign for county executive in my own Jefferson County:
 

The Republican Primary was going to decide the county mayor's race, Jefferson Countians knew this. One of the things that I knew was that County Mayor Alan Palmieri was very beatable, but only if he had one opponent. A three-man race benefits Palmieri because he has formed a stable base that will stay with him. Both Daryl Brady and Bob Cavanah ran good-to-great campaigns, but to win both needed not only to have good early voting numbers, but a high turnout on Election Day itself, and in areas of the county where they are known to be strong-and the latter did not manifest itself.
 

I have to admit that I find the seven-point difference between Bud McCoig and David Davenport surprising, as Davenport is not only the incumbent, he has his supporters among some police in our local municipalities. McCoig and his supporters blanketed the county, however, and it paid off. They were everywhere and visited everywhere, and yes, they came to my town and our drugstore. There will be a new Sheriff in town in September.
 

Ed Stiner will likely be Jefferson County's Register of Deeds until he decides to retire. I feel badly for Ms. Smelcer because I know how hard she worked only to have 524 votes. Bradley Troutman was the face of this race, however-he was everywhere and made an impressive show in his first run for public office. You really need to consider getting into politics, son.

The other big race in my neck of the woods was the Republican Primary for Hamblen County Sheriff: