UPDATE: The Nashville Tennessean names Jason Martin winner of the hotly-contested Tennessee Democratic gubernatorial nomination in narrow win over JB Smiley Jr. The primary was incredibly tight, with fewer than 1500 votes separating the two. Now, Martin faces an uphill battle against incumbent Republican Gov. Bill Lee.
ORIGINAL POST ON ELECTION DAY: Tennessee’s voters head to the polls for the statewide primary election today. On the top of the ticket, there won’t be any challengers for Governor Bill Lee, an incumbent Republican, but three Democrats are vying to challenge Lee for the General Election in November: Memphis community activist Carnita Atwater, Nashville physician Jason Martin and Memphis City Council member JB Smiley, Jr.
According to the latest polls,
According to the Nashville Tennessean, of nine U.S. Congressional Districts, much of the focus is on the newly drawn 5th Congressional District, where state legislators redrew the 5th into a Republican-friendly district, splitting Nashville into the 5th, 6th and 7th congressional districts.
The new congressional districts in and around Nashville include:
- 5th District: southwestern Davidson County and Columbia
- 6th District: East Nashville and Cookeville
- 7th District: includes North Nashville, downtown and Clarksville.
Since 2004, O’Hern has worked with political campaigns in roles ranging from major projects involving nationwide digital marketing for U.S. Presidential candidates, U.S. Congressmen, state governors, and state representatives. O’Hern’s journalism background includes news reporting and editing for various organizations and news publications in Alabama and Florida since 2002. O’Hern graduated from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala with a degree in journalism and a minor in political science.