Special Election Called To Fill Vacant Senate Seat

Sep 13, 2017 at 07:45 am by bryan


A special election has been called by Gov. Bill Haslam to elect a state senator to fill the vacancy created by the recent resignation of former State Sen. Mae Beavers.

Beavers resigned from the Senate on September 1st to devote her time to her bid for governor in 2018.

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The Primary election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 7, and the General election to fill the seat will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Both elections will be held in all six counties that make up the 17th State Senate District: Wilson, Cannon, DeKalb, Smith, Clay and Macon.

Tennessee law requires a special election to be called by the governor to replace a vacant senate seat if the vacancy occurs 12 months or more before the next state general election. The next regular state general election will be 14 months away. The governor sets the dates for the primary and general special elections by issuing a writ of election within 20 days of the vacancy being created.

The Republican and Democratic Primary Election on Nov. 7 will determine the party nominees that will be on the General Election ballot. The winner of the General Election on Dec. 19 will serve the remainder of Beavers' unexpired term, which ends in 2018.

The qualifying deadline for candidates will be at noon on Sept. 28. Early Voting times and locations will be set by the county election commission.

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