HUNTSVILLE | Dennis Jeffers swept into the Scott County Mayor’s office in Thursday’s election, taking 56% of the vote in a four-way race.
Jeffers, who has been mayor of Huntsville for the past 10 years, won all but one of Scott County’s 10 precincts on his way to a resounding win in the most-watched race of the election cycle, capturing a total of 3,457 votes.
The incumbent, Jerried Jeffers, won his home precinct of Elgin, finishing second with 1,501 votes.
Jennifer Shockley, the Cumberland Clear president who played a key citizen’s role in the effort to stop a proposed landfill at Bear Creek, finished third, with 943 votes.
Former County Commissioner Trent Cross finished with 252 votes.
The outcome of Thursday’s vote continued a trend of one-term mayors in Scott County. The last elected incumbent to successfully mount a re-election bid was Dwight Murphy in 2002.
“It’s extremely humbling,” Dennis Jeffers said of the election outcome. “This is a mandate from the voters, but more than that this is a mandate from my Lord. I have asked me if he wanted me to be county mayor. If he did, nobody could stop me. If he didn’t I didn’t want it. So not only did the voters speak but my Lord spoke tonight. Now the hard work starts. It’s been a lot of hard work, but the real hard work starts on Sept. 1.”
Jeffers complimented his opponents on a race well run, and said he needs their help moving forward, with a lot of issues facing Scott County.
“Just like the old saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ I’m not calling this county a child but it’s going to take all of us working together,” he said.
“You will find that I’ll weigh in on a lot of things, just because I think that’s my job,” Jeffers said of his relationship with County Commission. He pointed out that the mayor doesn’t have a vote on issues facing the Commission, unless a tie vote arises, but he said there are difficult decisions to be made.”
Jerried Jeffers also spoke after the results came in.
“God has put peace on my heart through this whole thing,” he said. “I’m glad we had a decently clean campaign. There was some rough stuff on social media but you’re always going to get that in this world we live in.”
Jeffers said there’s nothing he would have changed about the last four years, and pointed to several accomplishments — such as a 23% raise for law enforcement and other county employees, a new medical clinic opened by the University of Tennessee Medical Center, and more.
“I had a chance to do something that only 23 other people has done. Who can say that?” Jeffers said. “This has been an opportunity of a lifetime. It’s something that people who know me know I’ve always said, ‘One day I’m going to run for County Mayor.’ I can’t be any more grateful for what God has done for this county, what he’s done for me, and I know when one chapter closes another one begins, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he has in store for me. I hope for great things for the people of Scott County as a whole.”
The Sheriff’s race was even more definitive, as first-term incumbent Brian Keeton won every precinct and captured 66% of the vote in his re-election bid.
Keeton finished with 4,005 votes. Dennis Chambers, a law enforcement veteran, finished second, with 1,178 votes. Former Scott County Sheriff’s Department drug agent Kris Lewallen was third, with 900 votes.
“I’m honored to stand here as your sheriff still,” Keeton said. “To those who supported me, thank you — to God first, of course, and to my wife, my family and my friends. You believed in me, the integrity, the accountability and the leadership, and I won’t let you down.
“To those who stood against me, I respect the fight,” Keeton added. You made me sharper and made the race stronger. You reminded all of us that the election matters. But now the election is over and it’s time to move forward together. As sheriff, I’m going to stand for what’s right — no shortcuts and no excuses. The law is going to be enforced fairly and firmly.”
In a rematch of a 2022 matchup, Amanda Chambers Sexton mounted a victorious challenge to capture the County Clerk’s office, finishing with 54% of the vote.
Sexton, who is currently an employee of the Scott County School System, finished with 3,243 votes. The incumbent, Felicia Bilbrey, finished with 2,572 votes, or 43%. Christina Kay Cross captured 194 votes.
Bilbrey won the Elgin, Winfield, and Oneida precincts, but Sexton took the Fairview precinct by a wide margin and also won the remaining six precincts.
“I want to sincerely thank every voter that voted for me,” Sexton said. “I want to make a vow right now that I’ll spend the next four years trying to win the votes of the voters who did not vote my way. I am overwhelmed tonight.”
Sexton will take over what is arguably the busiest office in county government.
“I just want to be someone who is helpful to every citizen in this county, and I want every citizen to know that I will go above and beyond for them,” she said.
Most county office-holders were unopposed in Thursday’s election, with all but the Assessor of Property on the ballot.
The top vote-getter among the uncontested races was Circuit Court Clerk Donnie Phillips, who won a sixth term in office with 5,183 courtesy votes. Right behind him was Register of Deeds Ashley Riseden, who was re-elected with 5,162 votes. Trustee Rena Erwin finished with 5,117 votes. Road Superintendent Kelvin King and County Attorney John Beaty were re-elected, as well, with 4,563 votes and 4,300 votes, respectively.
Total voter turnout in Thursday’s election was 45%, making it the lowest turnout for an election on the major four-year cycle in Scott County in the modern era.
