Even with the spotlight on the national elections, there were still a number of contests of interest in West Tennessee. U.S. Rep. John Tanner (D) held off challenger James L. Hart (R) in the 8th Congressional District.

This race drew a great deal of regional attention when Hart won the Republican primary. He has admitted to believing in Eugenics, the phony science that says that less “favored races” should not be allowed to procreate.

State Sen. Roy Herron (D) appears to have held onto his seat in the 24th District race, defeating Dennis Doster.

The Associated Press projected that Herron garnered 64 percent of the votes, with Doster at 36 percent.

State Rep. Mark Maddox (D) in the 76th District was unopposed. In Martin, Ward I went to incumbent Danny Nanney with 793 votes. Matthew B. Vincent came in with 459, and Darrel Simmons with 232.

Johnny Tuck won Ward II, with Jim Dickenson came in with 300.

Wart III was an unopposed race for Randy Edwards, who finished out the unexpired term for former Alderman Phillip Merryman.

Please note that a number of “provisional ballots” were cast in this election, and none of these have been counted as of press time. We will update our Web site with these returns.