November 5 Election Results

Scott Kitts is LaFollette’s new mayor – LaFollette voted “yes” in favor of package stores

VERY TOP PHOTO: Mayor-elect David Chambers for the Town of Caryville

By Charlotte Underwood

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- The voters have spoken; Scott Kitts is your new LaFollette City Mayor. Kitts, who is a former county commissioner, won the mayor’s race with 1,013 votes. Close contender former LaFollette Park and Recreation Director Johnny Byrge received 916 votes, while former LaFollette Mayor and councilman Phillip Farmer received 271 votes. Bufford Proffitt finished up with 47 votes.

“First and foremost, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, I couldn’t’ have done it without Him,” Mayor-elect Scott Kitts said. He also thanked “everyone who voted for him and believed him” throughout his “political career.” Kitts, who was a three-term county commissioner, resigned from the commission to run for mayor.

“I chose to run for mayor of LaFollette because I want to better the city …I’m looking forward to bringing new ideas and working with the city council. Congratulations to Wayne and Mark, I look forward to working with them, along with the rest of the council,” Kitts said.

He will be sworn into office, along with the new council members on December 1^st.

The new mayor-elect said he planned on running the city “like a business” and that he was “a revenue guy” and hoped to find ways to bring more revenue into the city and that he “hoped the package store referendum would bring in revenue.”

Kitts also mentioned that he would like to see something happen with the empty buildings in LaFollette and hoped to find ways for those buildings to be renovated.

Kitts said he also had a “heart for children” and wanted to find ways to “help the children in the city of LaFollette”

“I will put my heart and soul into this position, and I want to be available; my office will always be open to the citizens of LaFollette … I think that’s why I got the votes I did; people feel comfortable talking with me, my phone number is available and I want to be there for them,” Kitts said.

Voters approved the package store referendum allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages in the city of LaFollette with 1,257 votes in approval and 902 “no” votes on the measure. This will be one of the first orders of business for the new LaFollette City Council and mayor which will have to “pass an ordinance to accept” the voter approved referendum.

In the LaFollette City Council, incumbent Wayne Kitts retained his seat with 861 votes and was by far the highest vote getter in the LaFollette Council race. Former LaFollette Councilman Mark Hoskins is back on the board, garnering a total of 582 votes.  Johnny McDonald received 533 votes, Mike Evans earned 489 votes, Jimmy Marlow picked up 27 votes, while Tyler Dumont garnered 293 votes.

Top LaFollette City Council vote-getter and incumbent “Coach” Wayne Kitts said he looked forward to “continuing the improvements” that he and the current council has been working on. This marks his third term in office as a councilman.

“First of all, I want to thank everyone that voted for me; I’m happy to continue what we’ve started with the city,” Wayne Kitts said. He also congratulated all the candidates in the city council race for taking the time and energy to run, as well as a congratulations to new mayor Scott Kitts and newly elected councilman Mark Hoskins.

Hoskins thanked everyone who voted for him and said he too, looked forward to working with the mayor-elect and the council.

“We had some great candidates running; I’ve worked with Mr. Kitts (Wayne) before and I look forward to working with him and the others,” Hoskins said. He said he ran for office because he likes “helping people and talking with the citizens of LaFollette.”

“I ran because I believe there is more things we can do to improve the city,” Hoskins said.

Chris Paul was elected to fill the county commission district 2 seat that was left vacant after former commissioner Scott Kitts resigned to run for mayor of LaFollette. Paul ran unopposed and received 1,773 votes.

Former Caryville Alderman David Chambers ran unopposed for the Caryville Mayor position, receiving 699 votes.

Three alderman seats were up for grabs in Caryville. In Ward 1, Pat Donahue won the lone contested seat with 450 votes, while Laura Ridenour received 232 votes.

In Ward 2, Alderman Eric Jones ran unopposed, receiving 614 votes.

In Ward 3, Alderman Lloyd Lawson ran unopposed as well, receiving 624 votes.

Keith Daniels was elected to the city council for Rocky Top. He ran unopposed and received 7 votes.

National and state races:

In the presidential race, Donald Trump won Campbell County by over 84-percent with 13,111 votes, while Democratic challenger Kamala Harris received 2,305 votes. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received 59 votes.

In the United States Senate race, incumbent Marsha Blackburn was once again elected with 12,248 votes while Gloria Johnson received 2,495 votes.

In the Tennessee Senate District 12 Race, incumbent Ken Yager won with 12,574 votes against Charles Hutson II who received 1,911 votes.

State Representative Dennis Powers ran unopposed and received 13,230 votes for his office in the Tennessee House of Representatives 36^th District. This was 100-percent of the votes.

In the U.S. House of Representatives District 2, incumbent Tim Burchett won with 6,606 votes while opponent Jane George received 1,093 votes.

In the U.S. House of Representatives District 3, incumbent Chuck Fleischmann won with 5,832 votes over his opponent Jack Allen had1,034 votes. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-11/05/2024-6AM)

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-11/06/2024-12:01AM)