Republicans sweep Williamson County as voters shatter turnout records, other local races decided

The final results are in for the 2020 election in Williamson County, and the complete unofficial results show a Republican sweep in all races, as well as the election of two Thompson’s Station aldermen and four Fairview Commissioners.

Williamson County’s three Republican incumbents in the Tennessee House of Representatives — Brandon Ogles, Glen Casada and Sam Whitson — all went on to defeat their respective Democratic challengers; Sam Bledsoe, Elizabeth Madeira and Jenn Foley. Casada also defeated Brad Fiscus, who ran as an Independent.

“First and most importantly, it’s an honor and a privilege for 62% of the voters to send me back to Nashville, and I’m looking forward to getting back to work on transportation and broadband needs,” Casada said of his victory.

A major talking point of Casada’s two opponents was character, with both Madeira and Fiscus pointing to Casada’s resignation as Tennessee speaker of the house amid scandal. Casada said that ultimately, Williamson County voters “rejected” both Madeira and Fiscus’ attacks on his character.

“I was kind of shocked because I really felt like they questioned my integrity — I question their integrity,” Casada said. “It was an integrity issue, and I think the voters saw through that. It was just deception and they rejected it.”

In the race for the U.S. House representing Tennessee’s 7th District, Republican incumbent Mark Green went on to comfortably defeat his Democratic opponent Kiran Sreepada by more than twice the vote count.

Green told the Home Page that there was a lot he wanted to accomplish during his second term, but that a hurdle in seeing those goals through to the end would be the cooperation — or lack thereof, as Green suggested — of his Democratic colleagues. 

“Our biggest focus is going to be to try to get the Democrats to work with us on rural health care — I worked in the business that served rural hospitals; I know how to save them, I know what we've got to do, we just have to get Nancy Pelosi to let us do it,” Green said. 

“I've got two really strong bills that help save rural hospitals — both jobs and the health care in those communities — and she hasn't allowed them to be heard. So we'll just go and leverage some of the Democrats more and get those things done.”

Green also said there could be an even greater hurdle to accomplishing his legislative goals if Joe Biden were to win the presidency.

“We've also got to look at the debt, we got to look at infrastructure, we got to look at holding China accountable... I mean there's a ton to do, and hopefully in this next congress we'll get it done,” Green said. 

“I'm a veteran, I get government health care — it's not the answer.”

Thompson’s Station voters went on to re-elect Vice Mayor Brian Stover, as well as elect a fresh face to the town’s leadership: Andrew Zinn.

“Just happy for another four years,” Stover said of his win. “Look forward to having Andrew Zinn on the board, looking forward to moving forward with our economic development plans of what we’re going to do in improving our infrastructure, and just working with the community.”

In a written statement to the Home Page, Zinn said he was “humbled and grateful” to the voters who selected him to serve as their leader and policy maker.

“From the start, we had a clear message for voters that we wanted to deliver strategic planning, fiscal responsibility, and high ethical standards to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen,” Zinn wrote. 

“I also want to commend the other candidates. I believe we all worked hard this campaign, and while we may disagree on certain policy or philosophical issues, we all care deeply for our town and turned that passion into action.”

The city of Fairview also went on to elect Lisa Anderson, Brandon Butler, Scott Lucas and Rod Dawson to its Board of Commissioners.

If campaign contributions were any indicator, it was no surprise that President Donald Trump performed well among Williamson County voters, nabbing 86,469 votes to Biden's 50,161.

The U.S. Senate race, which was handily won by Republican Bill Hagerty over his Democratic opponent Marquita Bradshaw, mostly mirrored statewide results, though by slightly larger margins. In Williamson, Hagerty scored 91,155 against Bradshaw’s 43,432 votes, whereas statewide, Hagerty’s victory was less pronounced with his 1,827,650 versus her 1,034,759.

Turnout-wise, Williamson County shattered all previous records.

In total, 16,622 voters in Williamson took the polls on Election Day, which, combined with the early voting tally of 111,469, brings the total in-person vote count to 128,091. 

The number of absentee ballots used in Williamson County also shattered records this election. In the county, the previous record for absentee ballots was around 2,700. In the 2020 election, the county Election Commission received 12,093 absentee ballots.

With 140,184 out of 165,939 registered voters in the county casting a ballot, this year’s election saw Williamson post an 84% voter turnout rate - the single highest rate ever recorded.

For comparison, the turnout rate for Williamson County was 72% in 2016, 71% in 2012, and 77% in 2008.

All results are unofficial until certified by the Williamson County Election Commission. The asterisk (*) indicates the candidate who won their respective race.

President

Donald Trump and Michael Pence, Republican / 86,469 votes

Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, Democratic / 50,161 votes

Don Blankenship and William Mohr, Independent / 276 votes

Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente and Darcy Richardson, Independent / 88 votes

Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker, Green / 116 votes

Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy "Spike" Cohen, Libertarian / 1,494 votes

Alyson Kennedy and Malcolm Jarrett, Independent / 37 votes

Gloria La Riva and Sunil Freeman, Independent / 37 votes

Kanye West and Michelle Tidball, Independent / 257 votes

Jade Simmons, Write-in / 2

United States Senate

*Bill Hagerty, Republican / 91,155 votes

Marquita Bradshaw, Democratic / 43,432 votes

Yomi "Fapas" Faparusi Sr., Independent / 655 votes

Jeffrey Alan Grunau, Independent / 139 votes

Ronnie Henley, Independent / 240 votes

G. Dean Hill, Independent / 133 votes

Steven Hooper, Independent / 295 votes

Aaron James, Independent / 168 votes

Elizabeth McLeod, Independent / 1,315 votes

Kacey Morgan, Independent / 104 votes

Eric William Stansberry, Independent / 30 votes

United States House of Representatives, District 7

*Mark Green, Republican / 91,920 votes

Kiran Sreepada, Democratic / 42,286 votes

Ronald Brown, Independent / 1,997 votes

Scott Anthony Vieira Jr, Independent / 663 votes

Tennessee House of Representatives, District 61

*Brandon Ogles, Republican / 27,440 votes

Sam Bledsoe, Democratic / 14,618 votes

Tennessee House of Representatives, District 63

*Glen Casada, Republican / 33,360 votes

Elizabeth Madeira, Democratic / 18,088 votes

Bradley Fiscus, Independent / 4,494 votes

Tennessee House of Representatives, District 65

*Sam Whitson, Republican / 26,616 votes

Jenn Foley, Democratic / 12,488 votes

City of Fairview Commissioner (voters selected three)

*Lisa Anderson / 2,575 votes

Derek Burks / 1,701 votes

*Brandon Butler / 2,423 votes

*Scott Lucas / 1,727 votes

Christopher McDonald / 927 votes

Debby Rainey / 1,160

City of Fairview Commissioner (voters selected one)

*Rod Dawson / 2,097 votes

Gregory DeWire / 1,766 votes

Thompson's Station Alderman (voters selected two)

Lauren Gaudioso / 1,660 votes

*Brian Stover / 1,970 votes

Rebecca Watson / 1,834 votes

*Andrew Zinn / 1,887 votes

This story was edited on November 4 to update the vote tallies with absentee and nursing home votes, which were released by the Williamson County Election Commission at 4:32 a.m. on November 4.

Matt Masters contributed to this report