Three races for Rutherford County Commission went down to the wire, with one race decided by only 13 votes. In District 21, incumbent Democrat Chantho Sourinho defeated Republican challenger Patsy Briley by just 13 votes. Sourinho received 727 votes to Briley's 724. The final votes showed Briley with a one-vote margin of victory, but fail safe ballots put Sourinho over the top. Fail safe provisional voting was adopted by Congress in 2002, requiring election officials to provide provisional ballots to individuals who are not listed on the official list of registered voters. Once election officials determine that the individual is eligible, the ballot is counted.

In District 4, incumbent Robert Peay held off Republican Jon Jaques by 34 votes. Peay received 722 votes to 688 for Jaques. John Frazier finished third with 337 votes.

A three-person race in District 8 was decided by 126 votes. Pettus Read will be the new county commissioner in the district. He received 806 votes to Edward Phillips' 680. Steve Spence garnered 635 votes.

In other contested races, District 6 Commissioner Joe Frank Jernigan defeated write-in candidate Matt Harvey, receiving 83-percent of the vote. Paul Johnson returns as District 13 commissioner, defeating Chris Deal. Johnson received 785 votes to Deal's 357. Johnson was county commissioner before deciding to run for sheriff against Truman Jones several years ago. He was replaced by Democrat Jeff Jordan, who decided not to seek another term in office. Charlie Baum won re-election in District 14, defeating Tony Gaines 77-percent to 23-percent. David Nipper will be the new commissioner in District 15. He defeated Oakland High assistant principal Tim Roediger 62-percent to 38-percent.

District 1 - Doug Shafer (unopposed)
District 2 - Steve Pearcy (unopposed)
District 3 - Will Jordan (unopposed)
District 4 - Robert Peay (defeated John Jaques and John Frazier)
District 5 - Carol Cooke (unopposed)
District 6 - Joe Frank Jernigan (defeated write-in candidate Matt Harvey)
District 7 - Michael Kusch (unopposed)
District 8 - Pettus Read (defeated Edward Phillips and Steve Spence)
District 9 - Joe Gourley (unopposed)
District 10 - Brad Turner (unopposed)
District 11 - Rhonda Allen (unopposed)
District 12 - Robert Stevens (unopposed)
District 13 - Paul Johnson (defeated Chris Deal)
District 14 - Charlie Baum (defeated Tony Gaines)
District 15 - David Nipper (defeated Tim Roediger)
District 16 - Phillip Dodd (unopposed)
District 17 - Jeff Phillips (unopposed)
District 18 - Allen McAdoo (unopposed)
District 19 - Shawn Kaplan (unopposed)
District 20 - Trey Gooch (unopposed)
District 21 - Chantho Sourinho (defeated Patsy Briley)