Only Republican voters in Rutherford County ‘s March 5 primary will decide two of the local elections.
No Democrats or independents are competing in the election for Rutherford County Property Assessor . The race is between two Republicans: Rob Mitchell, the incumbent; and Virgil Gammon, a former elected member of the Rutherford County Commission and a previous chief deputy for the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.
Only those voting as Republicans also will decide who will win the Rutherford County Board of Education Zone 6 seat between Butch Vaughn and Chase Williams .
The partisan election for school board seats that started in 2022, following the General Assembly’s vote to make school board elections partisan, is “unfortunate,” said John Vile, a 47-year political science professor , including 35 years at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.
“As if we don’t have a enough partisanship − it’s a sign of the times,” said Vile, who also has served as the dean of MTSU’s Honors College since 2008. “Character and knowledge are far more important than party identification when choosing a school board candidate.”