Ed Stanton Jr. (left); Steve Basar
With all of Shelby County’s votes in on Super Tuesday, March 6, this was the outcome:
Presidential Primary:
REPUBLICAN: Shelby County Republicans followed the lead of GOP voters elsewhere in Tennessee, awarding former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum a substantial victory over Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul in the presidential primary.
Santorum had 18,260 votes in Shelby County, compared to 16,698 for Romney, 9,903 for Gingrich, and 3,838 for Paul.
DEMOCRATIC: President Barack Obama was unopposed and had 22,821 votes in Shelby County.
In local races:
General Sessions Court Clerk
DEMOCRATIC: Interim Clerk Ed Stanton Jr. won the Democratic primary with 8,422 votes over Shelby County Commission chairman Sidney Chism, who was favored in most pre-election forecasts but ended with 8,177 votes. Lagging behind were incumbent Clerk Otis Jackson, who is indicted for official misconduct and was under suspension, with 3,390 votes; Karen Woodward, with 1,430 votes; and Marion Brewer, with 1,352.
REPUBLICAN: Rick Rout defeated James R. Finney with 19,429 votes to Finney’s 15,463..
Assessor of Property
DEMOCRATIC: Incumbent Cheyenne Johnson easily won renomination over challenger Steve Webster, 16,916 votes to Webster’s 4,032.
REPUBLICAN: Tim Walton, with 12,644 votes, won the GOP nomination, over Randy Lawson, 10,580, and John Bogan, 9,493.
County Commission, District 1, Position 3
REPUBLICAN: Political newcomer Steve Basar, who narrowly trailed in early returns, went on to defeat a comeback try by former two-term County Commissioner Marilyn Loeffel. Basar had 7,484 votes to Loeffel’s 7,182.
DEMOCRATIC: Steve Ross was unopposed, finishing with 2,302 votes.
District Attorney General
REPUBLICAN Amy Weirich, the incumbent, and DEMOCRAT Carol Chumney were both unopposed in their respective primaries. Weirich ended with 26,197 votes, and Chumney had 16,555.
