Kerry continues to surge, rolls to win in Tennessee
Warren County joined with the rest of Tennessee last night by endorsing Democratic front-runner John Kerry as its choice to challenge incumbent President George W. Bush in November.
“Americans are voting for a change — East, West, North and today, in the South,” Kerry said after winning victories Tuesday in the Southern states of Tennessee and Virginia, meaning he has won 12 out of the 14 states which have held primaries or caucuses thus far.
In Tennessee, Kerry pulled 42 percent of the votes compared to 27 percent of Edwards and 24 percent for Clark.
Consensus second place John Edwards, who visited Warren County Monday morning, vowed to fight on despite his disappointing show in Tennessee.
“We’re going to have an election, not a coronation,” Edwards said of his second place finish in both Tennessee and Warren County.
In the local race, Kerry slipped by Edwards garnering 1,429 votes (33 percent) in Warren County. Edwards finished second with 1,329 votes (30 percent) and Clark third with 1,235 (29 percent). Dean was a very distant fourth with 172 votes or 4 percent.
Kerry’s win came despite the fact both Edwards and Clark made appearances in Warren County as Kerry held his own with both early voters and those who voted Tuesday.
The local election results showed the Edwards’ visit did likely have an impact on the local vote as Clark received the most votes in early voting. The early voting option had already closed before Edwards made his visit to Morrison Monday. Clark held a commanding lead in early voting, taking 602 votes to 415 for Kerry and 262 for Edwards.
However, on election day Tuesday, one day after the Edwards’ visit, the tables were turned with Edwards becoming the leading vote-getter. Tuesday’s totals in Warren County showed Edwards pulled 1,073 of the election-day votes, nipping Kerry who had 1,014. Clark, who once held a huge lead in early voting, withered Tuesday, garnering only 651 votes.
Kerry’s victory comes as election officials, both in Tennessee and Warren County, were expressing disappointment with voter turnout. Statewide, about 15 percent of registered voters took part while about 25 percent of the Warren County electorate voted.
“We certainly didn’t earn any bragging rights with our turnout,” said Election Administrator Donna Yates. “The early voting numbers had us hopeful and we felt there was a lot of interest both in the presidential primaries as well as the local elections.”