JONESBOROUGH, Tennessee (WJHL) – Former Johnson City Mayor David Tomita, who unsuccessfully ran for Washington County mayor in 2018, picked up a campaign petition to run for the Republican primary on May 3, 2022 for the seat of the 10th District of Washington County. Commission currently owned by Phil Carriger.

Tomita is the only person to have collected a petition for the seat, but several other districts on the commission appear poised to hold competitive races, as does the election to succeed outgoing county clerk Kathy Storey.

Completed petitions to qualify for the primary are expected on February 17. The list is updated weekly and posted on the Washington County Election Commission website, which is a new feature added since Dana Jones was appointed Election Commissioner.

Storey, first elected in 2010, has announced that she will not be running for a fourth term.

The general election is August 4.

Cheryl Storey, who is Kathy Storey’s deputy clerk, received a petition for the seat, as did Fourth District County Commissioner Danny Edens. Edens is fulfilling his fourth term as County Commissioner.

The three people who fought for the post of Washington County sheriff after Ed Graybeal retired in September have recovered papers. Keith Sexton, who has been appointed for the remainder of Graybeal’s tenure, Leighta Laitinen, who was Graybeal’s chief assistant, and former DEA agent Michael Templeton are vying for the post.

Office holders across the county who have collected petitions but face no current opposition for the Republican primary or general election include Grandy, who is finishing his first term, county administrator for the first term Rick Storey, Deeds Register Teresa Bowman and Circuit Court Clerk Brenda Downes.

Downes has already delivered his petition with the required number of signatures.

Tomita, who served simultaneously on the Johnson City and Washington County committees, finished third in a tight Republican primary for county mayor in 2018. Grandy finished just 158 ​​votes ahead of fellow County Commissioner Mark Ferguson in this race, with Tomita around 1,500 votes behind Ferguson.

The people who collected petitions for county commission seats are:

Richard Tucker, for the First District seat currently held by Steve Light. Light has not received a petition.

Marty Johnson, Jason Day and Billy Austin, for the Second District seat held by Kent Harris, who has announced he will not be running. Johnson and Day are Republicans and Austin is independent.

Jerome Fitzgerald, for the third district seat he currently holds.

Josh Edens and Todd Hensley for the fourth district seat vacated by Danny Edens. Hensley was a county commissioner previously.

Bryan Davenport for the fifth district seat he currently holds.

Greg Matherly for the sixth district seat he currently holds. Matherly is the chairman of the commission.

Former Commissioners Larry England and Sam Phillips for the Seventh District seat currently held by Larry Cate. Cate has not received a petition.

The incumbent Freddie Malone and Scott Keith Holly for the Eighth District headquarters. Holly is independent and would not run until the general election.

Suzy Williams incumbent for her seat in the Ninth District.

Tomita for the seat of the tenth district.

Incumbent Jodi Jones for the Eleventh District seat. Jones is the only person among all offices so far who would run in the Democratic primary.

Incumbents Ken Huffine and Jim Wheeler for the thirteenth and fourteenth arrondissement seats.

Mark Rice for the 15th district seat held by Mike Ford, who died earlier this week.

No one picked up a petition for the 12th District seat currently held by Robbie Tester.