DeSantis to visit Knoxville again as he seeks to turn Tennessee away from Trump | Ashe

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will make his second visit within a year to Knoxville when he hosts a fundraiser luncheon July 25 at the West Knox County home of Sherri Lee.

This is to raise money for his campaign to become the Republican presidential nominee. The previous trip, which was held at Chesapeake’s West in 2022, was for his political action committee.

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, former South Carolina governor, has been here, too. DeSantis is spending time in Tennessee – with another stop in mid-July in Nashville – even though many believe the state leans heavily toward former President Donald Trump. Expect other Republican candidates in the area this summer and fall.

A few weeks ago, I wrote that Jon Roach, at 79, was the oldest living former law director of the city of Knoxville, having served for eight years under Mayor Randy Tyree, 83. I was mistaken, as Bill Petty at 86 is the oldest. He served for almost two years under Mayor Leonard Rogers, starting Sept. 1, 1970. Petty later was a hearing officer for the civil service merit board, where he ruled that Deputy Engineering Director Steve King’s position was illegally abolished and ordered that King be returned to his position. King serves until the end of this year when he retires.

The League of Women Voters will sponsor a mayoral candidates forum at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 1 at the City Public Works Building, 3131 Morris Ave. Knox News is a partner for the event, which is a good opportunity for the public to see all the candidates together. If one candidate receives 50% plus one of the total vote in the Aug. 29 primary, that person is elected and does not appear on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

Six days later, at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at West High School, the league will sponsor a forum for the three at-large City Council candidates. In each contest, the top two candidates will go forward to the Nov. 7 general election.

The league has not decided whether to sponsor a forum in the four-way contest for city judge. Hopefully, it will; otherwise, city voters may not have the chance to see the four candidates together before the Aug. 29 primary.

Because the office of city judge has been contested only once since 1983, many groups simply forget it and are just learning that this year there really is a contest with four attorneys running. Incumbent John Rosson, 75, is seeking an unprecedented 10th four-year term. City judge is the only elected city office that is not term limited.

The other three candidates are Andrew Beamer, 38; Tyler Caviness, 31; and Mary Ward, 56. Caviness and Rosson have campaign websites: Cavinessforjudge.com and JudgeRosson.com. Beamer and Ward say they are working to create campaign websites.

Again, if one of the candidates receives 50% plus one vote in the primary, then that person is elected and does not go onto the Nov. 7 general election. There have not been four candidates for city judge running at the same time in more than 50 years. Until this year, no woman has sought the seat.

Only 16,000 out of a possible 100,000 city voters are expected to vote on Aug. 29, which means a little over 8,000 voters will determine the result.

If the mayor’s race is decided Aug. 29, it is likely the total November vote in the runoff for the other offices will decline to 11,000.

Birthdays  

July 6: Developer John Turley is 73. Clarence Beaman III is 64. Cameron Ward is 22. Former President George W. Bush is 77. Daniel T. Davis is 42. Jean Anderson, wife of Sam Anderson, is 60. Marjorie Thigpen-Carter is 54. Retired firefighter Harlen Breeden is 80. Former City Councilman Gary Underwood is 67. Retired Federal Judge Tom Phillips is 80.

July 7: Attorney David Draper is 62. Al Robinson is 83. Walt Anen is 92. Scott Bishop is 74. Jeffrey Busby is 59. Tracy L. Smith is 55.

July 8: City Councilwoman Amelia Parker is 44. Aaron Greenwald is 47. Claudia Caballero is 38. Doug McKamey is 77. Attorney Rick Hollow is 83. Jessica Weiss is 46. Federal Judge Thomas Varlan is 67.

July 9: Anne McIntyre is 83. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is 68. Regenia Whaley is 70. Reagan Bradshaw is 22. UT President Emeritus Joe Johnson is 90. Kate Trudell is 40. Matthew Teglas is 50.

July 10: Kevin R. Barry is 46. Dayakar Penumadu is 58. David Witherspoon is 78.

July 11: Richard Green is 70.

July 12: Marianne Custer is 76. Ralph Harvey is 71. Lori T. Johnson is 59.

Victor Ashe is a former Knoxville mayor and former ambassador to Poland. He is a columnist for Shopper News. 

Knox News and Shopper News promptly correct all errors. If you think we have published incorrect information, please email accuracy@knoxnews.com. Describe the error, where you saw it, the date, page number or the URL.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: DeSantis to visit Knoxville as he seeks to top Trump in Tennessee