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Tuke, Stewart win Democratic nominations

By: Ken Whitehouse, ken.whitehouse@nashvillepost.com

Posted: Friday, August 8, 2008 3:00 am

Tuke, Stewart win Democratic nominations | Mike Stewart, Lamar Alexander, Rob Briley, Bob Tuke, Gary Davis, Rosalind Kurita, Eric Stansell, Mike Padgett, Marsha Blackburn, Tom Leatherwood, Jeff Long, Ricky Headley

Mike Stewart will replace outgoing State Rep. Rob Briley in District 52. Matthew Williams/File/The City Paper

Tennessee’s sleeper of a primary election season came alive on election day, offering a few wild finishes across the state.

Nashville attorney Bob Tuke won the Democratic contest to face incumbent U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in November, but not without a upstart and largely unknown Senate candidate named Gary Davis getting within striking distance of Tuke.

Furthermore, State Senate Speaker Rosalind Kurita held off her Democratic primary challenger by a mere 19 votes, resulting in an automatic recount.

Other results were less surprising, with Nashville attorney Mike Stewart handily defeating fellow Democrat Eric Stansell for outgoing State Rep. Rob Briley’s 52nd District House seat.

Tuke slips by Davis?

Tuke, the former chairman of the Tennessee Democratic Party, picked up just over 28 percent of the more than 170,000 votes cast statewide in a race that saw a surprising second place finish from political unknown Gary Davis. Davis picked up over 24 percent of the vote, ahead of former Knox County Clerk Mike Padgett.

Padgett’s third place finish was one of several surprises of the evening, but he didn’t dwell on his showing in a statement released to The City Paper.

“My hearty congratulations go out to Bob Tuke tonight,” Padgett said Thursday evening. “Bob is a true Tennessee hero, and he ran a gentleman’s campaign. I have offered him my full support because we both understand how important it is to working Tennesseans that Bob bring Lamar Alexander home.”

Stewart prevails easily

Nashville’s sole legislative race of interest was the contest to replace outgoing State Rep. Rob Briley.

Stewart and Stansell battled it out with Stewart coming out on top by a 3-to-1 margin. With over 2,100 votes cast, Stewart grabbed 1,630 votes compared to Stansell’s 535.

“I’m very pleased we won and were able to get so much support,” Stewart said. “I look forward to working hard to elect more Democrats in November.”

When asked if he still intended to honor his campaign pledge to resign from the powerhouse law firm of Waller, Lansden, Dortch and Davis if elected, Stewart said that he will be winding up his legal work with the firm and will depart by the time the legislature reconvenes next year. He plans on hanging up his own shingle in addition to his legislative work.

Asked about his successor, State Representative Rob Briley congratulated both candidates on their races.

“I wish him [Stewart] the best,” Briley told The City Paper. “I have known Mike for a long time and I know he will be a great representative. I think both he and Eric Stansell ran good races and they should be proud.”

Kurita wins, but just barely

In what appears to be the closest contest of the primary season, State Sen. Rosalind Kurita of Clarksville seems to have held of a challenge from attorney Tim Barnes.

Kurita has been the target of much Democratic scorn for the past two years. In 2006 she shocked the political establishment in the state by crossing party lines and voted to install State Senator Ron Ramsey as lieutenant governor, the first Republican to hold the job since Reconstruction.

After all the votes were counted, Kurita beat Barnes by only 19 votes or 4,477 votes to 4,458.

Blackburn bests Leatherwood

U.S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn held off a primary challenge from Shelby County Register of Deeds Tom Leatherwood.

Leatherwood came into the race on the last day of qualifying, levying charges that Blackburn was out of touch and not representing the conservative values of the 7th congressional district.

That message fell far short as Blackburn handily defeated Leatherwood with over 77 percent of the votes case in a race that saw more than 45,000 ballots cast.

“It was a good solid win,” Blackburn said. “I am pleased with the support from the district. I am going to be working very closely with Republicans to make sure that we take control of the state house, pick up seats in the state senate, and carry the state for John McCain in November.”

Williamson replaces Headley

One race that assisted Blackburn in running up the score was the race for Williamson County Sheriff.

Jeff Long will replace Ricky Headley as Williamson County Sheriff after turning back seven other opponents. Headley was forced to resign from office earlier this year after pleading guilty to illegally obtaining prescription drugs.

Long had beaten rival Tommy Campsey earlier this year in a caucus contest for the Republican nomination. That race turned out to be a harbinger as Campsey again came in second place when all the votes had been counted.

Other races:

Freshman U.S. Congressman David Davis lost his first bid for re-election to Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe. This is first time an incumbent has lost re-election in the Northeast Tennessee Republican stronghold since 1930.
Congressman Steve Cohen got past challenger Nikki Tinker in a race that should give him some breathing room for years to come. Tinker, an African-American, had invoked race into the campaign against Cohen, a white Jew, in a district that is predominantly African-American. With campaign commercials that had tried to tag Cohen as in league with the Ku Klux Klan, Tinker ended up drawing rebukes from former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Incumbent State Sen. Raymond Finney fell to State Rep. Doug Overby in an East Tennessee race that was expected to be close and was. In a three-way contest that saw over 20,000 votes cast, Overby eked out Finney by approximately 150 votes. Third place finisher Jim Bishop’s 959 votes easily could have tipped the outcome of the race for Finney.
State Rep. Dolores Gresham bested former Savannah, Tenn. mayor Bob Shutt in the GOP primary contest for the seat being vacated by former Lt. Gov. John Wilder. She will face Democrat, and a former Wilder senior staff member, Randy Camp in November.
Businessman Eric Stewart unseated appointed State Sen. Steve Roller for the seat that had been vacated by Jerry Cooper. Stewart will face Republican Mike Niederhauser in November.

CORRECTION: The original version of this story incorrectly stated there would be an automatic recount in State Sen. Rosalind Kurita's race. The original version of this story has been corrected.

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