Fall elections held in four cities

Fall elections were held in four municipalities, including Franklin, Humboldt, Knoxville, and Selmer. 

A sales tax referendum was also on the ballot in Knoxville, which was rejected by voters.

FRANKLIN 

The city of Franklin held a municipal election on Oct. 28.  

In the Ward 2 Alderman race, incumbent Matt Brown defeated challengers B.K. Muvvala and Erinn Watkins. Brown earned 1,502 votes with Watkins receiving 405, and Muvvala earned 52. 

For the Ward 4 Alderman race, incumbent Patrick Baggett defeated challenger Rodney Taylor with Baggett earning 1,365 votes to Taylor’s 629.  

Two other incumbents ran unopposed and retained their seats. Bev Burger retained her Ward 1 seat with 293 complimentary votes while Jason Potts retained his Ward 3 seat with 500 complimentary votes.  

HUMBOLDT 

A municipal election was held in Humbolt on Nov. 5.  

Newcomer Arthur Boykins defeated Alderman Shane Lynch and fellow newcomers Joshua Bivens and Yahweh Yahweh to take the mayoral seat previously held by Marvin Sikes. Boykin led the vote count with 959 followed by Lynch with 410, Bivens with 25, and Yahweh with 22.  

In the Ward 1 Alderman race, incumbent Tammie L. Porter fended off challenger Ashley P. Brown with Porter earning 149 votes to Brown’s 31. In the Ward 2 race, newcomer Nicolas D. Graves defeated Vice Mayor Leon McNeal to claim the seat with Graves earning 99 votes to McNeal’s 85.  

Newcomer Lee Cook defeated incumbent Julian Jones-Coleman and newcomer Matt Brown to take the Ward 3 seat. Cook garnered 123 votes followed by Brown with 118 and Jones-Coleman with 74. Newcomer Julie Beck Crenshaw also defeated fellow challenger William “Bill” Roe 383 to 68 to take the Ward 4 seat previously held by Shane Lynch  

Incumbent Monte Johnson defeated challenger Jonathan Powell to retain the Ward 5 alderman seat. Johnson earned 172 votes to Powell’s 69.  

KNOXVILLE 

The city of Knoxville held its general election on Nov. 5. The city will have five new councilmembers due to term limits on those who currently hold those offices. 

Newcomer Karyn Adams defeated fellow challenger Becky Jones with 1,993 votes to 948 to take the District 1 seat previously held by Vice Mayor Tommy Smith. In the District 2 race, Nathan Honeycutt defeated Melody Watts to take the seat formerly held by Andrew Roberto. Honeycutt earned 3,662 votes to Watts’ 2,289.  

For District 3, newcomer Doug Lloyd defeated challenger Frank Ramey to take the seat formerly held by Seema Singh. Lloyd earned 2,147 votes to Ramey’s 1,928.  In District 4, newcomer Matthew DeBardelaben won with 3,530 votes to challenger Jeff Talman’s 2,556, taking the seat formerly held by Lauren Rider 

Newcomer Denzel Grant earned 1,685 votes to defeat fellow challenger Stan Johnson, who earned 1,095. Grant will take the District 6 seat formerly held by Gwen McKenzie.  

Voters also rejected a referendum to increase the sale tax from 2.25% to 2.75% with 15,284 voting against and 9,546 voting in favor of the measure.  

SELMER 

A municipal election was held in Selmer on Nov. 5.  

Newcomer John Smith defeated incumbent Sherry Inman and Alderman John Norris for the mayoral seat in Selmer. Smith earned 448 votes followed by Inman with 256, and Norris with 21.  

Incumbent Johnny Roy Finlayson II and newcomer Felisha Porter ran unopposed for the two open alderman seats and were elected with 447 and 427 complimentary votes, respectively.  

Newcomer Johnnie Kay Witt defeated fellow challengers Larry Tomaszewski and Elizabeth Woolbright for the two-year, unexpired alderman seat. Witt garnered 310 votes, followed by Tomaszewski with 227 votes and Woolbright with 137.