Thursday’s unofficial election results in the Republican primary races for the Tennessee General Assembly produced a mix of expected victories and unexpected losses in multiple districts across the Volunteer State.
In Tennessee State House District 65 – a closely-watched race for an open seat between Lee Reeves, Brian Beathard, and Michelle Foreman – Reeves emerged victorious by a 95-vote margin over Beathard, his closest challenger on Thursday.
Reeves, who was endorsed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee in June, received 3,141 votes over Beathard’s 3,046 votes and Foreman’s 2,178 votes.
In the race for Tennessee Senate District 18, incumbent State Senator Ferrell Haile (R-Gallatin) defeated challenger Chris Spencer by more than a 18.3 percent margin with 87 percent of the votes counted.
Haile, who has served in the Tennessee Senate since 2013, was also endorsed by the governor leading up to Thursday’s election.
Another candidate endorsed by Lee who won their election on Thursday was Aron Maberry, a Montgomery County school board member, who was running for Tennessee State House District 68.
Maberry defeated challengers Joe Smith, Carol Duffin, and Greg Gilman with 43 percent of the vote.
A candidate endorsed by the governor who did not win their election on Thursday was Jason Emert, who was defeated in the race for Tennessee State House District 20 by both Tom Stinnett and Nick Bright. Stinnett went on to win the race with 35 percent of the vote.
A closely watched race on Thursday produced a shocking result for Tennessee Senate District 4. An incumbent, State Senator Jon Lundberg (pictured above, right) (R-Bristol), was ousted by candidate Bobby Harshbarger (pictured above, left), the son of Tennessee U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01).
Harshbarger defeated Lundberg in the race by 4 percentage points, with 97 percent of the vote counted.
Another shocking result from Thursday’s elections was the race for Tennessee State House District 27, in which incumbent State Representative Patsy Hazlewood (R-Signal Mountain) was ousted by challenger Michele Reneau by the tightest margin of the night.
The Republican candidates who emerged victorious will face the Democratic candidates who won their primary races on Thursday in the November 5 general election.
For more election results, visit the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website at https://www.elections.tn.gov/categories/general-assembly/offices.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Jon Lundberg” by Jon Lundberg. Photo “Bobby Harshbarger” by Bobby Harshbarger. Background Photo “Tennessee Capitol” by FaceMePLS. CC BY 2.0.
Looks like all the big financial supporters of Lee managed to drag some losers like Haile across the finish line. Just shows how easy it is to buy seats in the Assembly. I must have received at least 20 glossy mailers from the special interest groups and PACs that have their hooks in Haile.