October 16, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
It appears the DeKalb County Republican Primary will be contested next March at least in the Assessor of Property race.
Incumbent Assessor Shannon Cantrell and Amy Clare Lockhart both obtained qualifying petitions from the DeKalb County Election Commission Office Monday, October 16, which was the first day petitions could be picked up for the March 5th, 2024 primaries.
Cantrell will be seeking the GOP nomination for re-election as Assessor. Lockhart plans to challenge Cantrell for the Republican nomination.
Meanwhile longtime 5th District Constable Mark Milam also picked up a qualifying petition Monday to seek the GOP nomination for re-election to the office of Constable.
Both the DeKalb County Republican and Democratic Parties will be holding primaries simultaneously on Tuesday, March 5th for the offices of Property Assessor, Constable (districts 1-7), and Board of Education (5th & 6th) districts along with the newly created position of criminal court judge-Part III in the 13th judicial district. The primaries will be held in conjunction with the Tennessee Presidential Preference Primary.
The qualifying deadline is Thursday, December 14 at 12 noon. The voter registration deadline for the March 5th primaries is February 5 and the early voting period will be Wednesday, February 14 through Tuesday, February 27. The Absentee ballot request deadline is Tuesday, February 27, 2024.
Independents wishing to run for Assessor of Property or Constable (districts 1-7), Board of Education (5th & 6th) districts, or for criminal court judge-Part III in the August 2024 County General Elections must also qualify by noon on Thursday, December 14 at 12 noon.
Party nominees and independents for these offices will run in the DeKalb County General Election on Thursday, August 1, 2024 and those elected will take office September 1, 2024.
The incumbents in these offices are Assessor of Property Shannon Cantrell and Constables- 1st District: Waylon Kyle, 2nd District: Darrell Johnson, 3rd District: Travis Bryant, 4th District: Lane Ball, 5th District: Mark Milam, 6th District: Jason Brown, and 7th District: Johnny King.
The school board seats up for election in 2024 are currently held by Jamie Cripps in the 5th district and Jason Miller in the 6th district.