Clarksville, TN – After months of campaigning, local candidates finally made it to the finish line on Tuesday, as mid-term elections were held in Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee, and throughout the nation.
Most races went as projected. Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts was reelected by a comfortable margin over his opponent David Allen.
At his watch party, Pitts said, “We’re grateful to God, and grateful to the people of my hometown of Clarksville. They always come through. They’ve been great supporters, and it’s all about them. It’s not about me.”
At a nearby location, Curtis Johnson, Jeff Burkhart, and Tommy Vallejos were hosting their own election night watch party.
The first race to be called was Burkhart’s bid for State Representative – District 75.
“It has been my goal has been to serve at the state level since back in 2018 when Congressman Mark Green got elected. Over the last 10 – 15 years in the private sector, I’ve worked a lot at the state level. I know a lot of Tennessee’s Representatives and Senators, and I’m just happy to get a chance to do this important work.
“My focus is going to be on roads. We lost Khandra Smalley, a community icon, this past week on I-24. Better safety and access on our roads has to be job #1 for Montgomery County. I know we’re growing, but we’re two lanes both ways, and everybody else is four. We’ve got to make this a priority.”
Representative – District 68 incumbent Curtis Johnson was next to make a short victory speech. “I just want to say how proud I am to have had the honor of representing Clarksville and Montgomery County for the last 18 years. It is an honor be reelected to another term, and indeed a special honor to win by this margin that we won by tonight.”
In what may have been the biggest upset of the evening, (R)Tommy Vallejos lost his race for Representative – District 67 to (D) Ronnie Glynn.
Vallejos delivered a humble message of thanks to his supporters. “Thanks to all those around me who have shown their support,” Vallejos said. “I thought I would never run for office but I was asked to, at first I was reluctant, but I was honored to come in and run this race. I knew I had something to offer Montgomery County, so today I’m grateful. I thank all my supporters for all the work they’ve done. I congratulate Ronnie Glynn. God bless you all and thank you for coming out.”
“We stayed on message,” Glynn said. “Our message was about three things; funding public education, expanding Medicaid, and restoring women’s rights. I think those are the three issues that really separated me from my opponent. Tommy ran a good race, but those are the issues that really set the tone of the people of this district.”
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