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Cheatham County voters make their choices




Philip Maxey celebrates Thursday evening after being re-elected as Cheatham County’s general sessions judge. Maxey chose to run as an Independent in the August race and defeated Republican nominee Dan Cook.SUBMITTED

Philip Maxey celebrates Thursday evening after being re-elected as Cheatham County’s general sessions judge. Maxey chose to run as an Independent in the August race and defeated Republican nominee Dan Cook.SUBMITTED

Cheatham County candidates and citizens gathered at the county courthouse on Aug. 4 to see the votes for this year’s August primary election.

Kerry McCarver was re-elected as county mayor, winning 3,971 votes against no opponent. He competed against Pamela Jones during the May primary election and won 71.34% of the votes in that race.

Independent candidate Philip Maxey defeated Republican candidate Dan Cook to remain as the county’s general sessions judge, receiving 71.65% of the votes.

In the county trustee’s race, Republican candidate Cindy Binkley Perry won 52.61% of the votes over Margie Jarell.

Perry worked as a controller for an electrical contractor for over 22 years where she

worked in office, business and financial management for commercial and industrial work. She also worked for Cigna-Medicare and started a trucking and excavating business with her family in 2018, where she is also a controller.

Perry said her major goal as a trustee is to implement a tax freeze in Cheatham County for citizens 65 and older and those with disabilities. She said that adjacent counties have a property tax freeze, except for Dickson and Cheatham, and that the tax freeze has been available since 2007.

Despite her win in the Republican primary in May, Perry said before she was elected that the May election confused many voters because they had to vote again in August.

“So, the education has been difficult since we had the May primary,” Perry said. “We had to have a primary for the Republican side, so that confused a lot of people I think, so I’m hoping that we have a good turnout today.”

Perry expressed her excitement for her victory on her political Facebook page:

“Thank you so much to those that voted for me. Thank you for those who voted for my opponent… As I proceed toward my future position as Trustee, I will work hard for the Cheatham County residents. I’ve met so many people during this season, and I look forward to meeting so many more. I look forward to working with the other county employees, and to work through any issues or new ideas that arise.”

Abby Short won as county clerk uncontested. She worked for the county for 17 years and was Teresa Gupton’s chief deputy for 12 years. Her two main goals are creating a social media platform for sending information to the constituents and placing a kiosk machine in southern Cheatham County where citizens can access tag renewals 24 hours a day, as the Cheatham County Clerk office opens Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. She also wants to keep customer service as her top priority.

Short said that the May election was unnecessary on a local level and that it was “uncharted territory” since it was the first time that the county had called for a Republican primary election.

“It was something that we had to all run through together,” she said, “but like I said, if it’s more on the state representative level or president – those kind of levels – I think that that is necessary, but on this on a local level, I’m not sure that it’s necessary.”

Diana Pike-Lovell did not like the May election, saying that it separated the county and people. She and Eugene Evans, Sr. won as District 5 Commissioners over Derrick Hamilton and Jody Vann.

“The general population was very confused, and they didn’t know they were supposed to vote in the primary and then again in August,” Lovell said. “That’s why the voter turnout’s been really low, but in local politics, there’s no reason to be partisan. We’re all independent working together, trying to help each other.”

Pike-Lovell has served as District 5 Commissioner for eight years and volunteered in Pegram for over 30 years. As she moves into her third term, she said she will continue to listen to her constituents and improve the county.

“Well, this will be my third term if I win, and I would like to continue doing what I have been, which is listening to my constituents and just following their lead and make the county better,” Pike-Lovell said.

BJ Hudspeth won as District 3 Commissioner along with Chris Gilmore. Hudspeth is the director of Cheatham County Emergency Medical Services and served in public service in Cheatham County for 25 years. As commissioner, he wants to take care of the county employees and the school system as public safety and good education are his top priorities.

“Cheatham County is always a breeding ground for essentially for people that would come here and get trained in a job and then go off somewhere else to make money,” Hudspeth said. “We need to invest in our employees here to for when folks come to Cheatham County to work, we want to keep them here.”

Hudspeth commented that the May election and the regular election was good either way, and that the main concern for the May election was the confusion with the voters. He said that the confusion should be prevented if there is another party primary election.

“I think the biggest concern through all of this is the mass confusion with the voters. People voted in the primary and thought that that was all they had to do, and then they found out they had to come back in August and vote again.”

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