Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs tops list of delegates to GOP convention | Georgiana Vines

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs is at the top of the list for GOP delegates in the 2nd Congressional District to support former President Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

Former U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. of Knoxville and former Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison came in second and third, respectively, in the March 5 GOP presidential primary. Trump carried the primary with more than 77% of the vote.

They and others chosen throughout the state have to be confirmed by Tennessee's Republican Executive Committee. Political blogger and former Knox County Board of Education member Brian Hornback, a state Executive Committee member, said the committee meets April 6 in Nashville to finalize the slate of delegates to the convention, where Trump is expected officially to become the GOP presidential nominee.

Hornback sought to be a delegate for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and came in fifth in 2nd Congressional District votes. Haley has since suspended her campaign.Hornback said the top 14 vote-getters statewide for Trump and three top vote-getters for Trump from each of the nine congressional districts are expected to be confirmed for a total of 41 delegates unless a vetting process shows they did not vote in three of the last four Republican primary elections. In the top statewide group is Julia Atchley-Pace of Madisonville, active as a past delegate and in national and state Republican women’s organizations.

All members of the state’s Republican congressional delegation are expected to be selected for open slots the Executive Committee chooses, Hornback said. Alternates also will be chosen, and he said it is likely that state Rep. Michele Carringer of Knoxville, who came in fourth in the 2nd Congressional District for Trump, would be chosen.

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann of Ooltewah already has earned a slot as he and his wife, Brenda, were the top vote-getters in the 3rd Congressional District for Trump delegates. The other person on the list is Ann Ayers-Colvin.

Nicholas Castle, a field representative to U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., was the top Trump delegate vote-getter in the 1st Congressional District. Cocke County Mayor Rob Mathis and Linda D. Buckles of Kingsport, the latter of whom has long been active in the Tennessee Federation of Republican Women, were the other two top vote-getters.

Others seeking to be GOP delegates included state Rep. Jason Zachary of Knoxville, who got the most votes in the 2nd Congressional District for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Susan Richardson Williams, former state GOP chair who has a government marketing business in Knoxville, was fourth on the list for DeSantis, who also has withdrawn from the presidential race.

∎ BOYD HAD SEVERAL MESSAGES: Randy Boyd’s announcement earlier this month that he’d like to continue serving as president of the University of Tennessee System for five more years also let politicos and others know he doesn’t plan to run for governor in 2026 like he did in 2018.

Would-be supporters point out he knows more prospective voters now from his travels across the state as UT System president than when he came in second in the Aug. 2, 2018, Republican primary against Bill Lee.

Lee went on to win the governor’s race against Democrat Karl Dean the following November, is now in his second term and is term limited. Boyd has served as UT System president, first on an interim basis, and then permanently, since 2018.

Boyd was not available to confirm that he would not seek the governor’s position in 2026 but did provide through Melissa Tindell, assistant vice president of communications for the UT System, this statement: “The University of Tennessee is the best place to serve the people of Tennessee and I’m honored to serve my University, my alma mater and my state.”

If Boyd was considering another run for governor, this is the time to start gearing up as other well-known Republicans, such as Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs, are doing.

Boyd, who founded Knoxville-based Radio Systems Corporation, expressed his interest in serving another five-year term on March 1 in a surprise announcement at a UT Board meeting. The board then unanimously agreed to “explore and formalize extending the president’s term through June 2030” at its June meeting. His current term runs through June 2025. UT System Board of Trustees Chair John Compton said if Boyd’s contract wasn’t extended, the board would need to begin a search for his replacement.

Under his leadership, Boyd can point to system enrollment being at an all-time high, student retention and graduation rates being up, and fundraising being very successful, among other achievements.

Boyd served as former Gov. Bill Haslam’s special adviser on higher education in 2013 and then became commissioner of economic and community development. He is also well known as owner of the Tennessee Smokies, a minor-league baseball team, which will relocate from Sevierville to near downtown Knoxville when a new stadium is completed in 2025.

Boyd and his wife, Jenny, have formed the Boyd Foundation to promote youth education, mental health, the arts and animal welfare. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business with an emphasis on industrial management from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a master’s degree in liberal studies with a focus on foreign policy from the University of Oklahoma.

∎ MCMAHAN RETIRES BUT WILL STILL BE HISTORIAN: Present and former elected officials were among those praising the work of Carroll McMahan as Sevier County historian and in various roles at the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce, including his help with revitalizing the city’s downtown, at a retirement party Thursday at The Pines Downtown in Sevierville.

McMahan, a Sevierville native, left East Tennessee for jobs with airlines in Nashville but returned in 2006 to work in the Welcome Center on Winfield Dunn Parkway before becoming the chamber’s special projects facilitator. He will remain county historian and continue writing his "Upland Chronicles" column, which appears weekly in The Mountain Press.

McMahan, 74, established the annual Rose Glen Literary Festival, which brings in authors from the East Tennessee area and hundreds of attendees for a luncheon talk at the Sevierville Convention Center.

Circuit Court Judge Rex Henry Ogle said when he and McMahan were younger, McMahan was a pretty active Democrat and he was a pretty active Republican, yet the two could talk and learn from each other. “I’m glad our paths have crossed,” Ogle said.

Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters said McMahan’s work has made “our heritage come to life.” McMahan takes pride in the establishment of visual arts, including murals and signs, that tell the history of the area. He also helped convince the city of Sevierville to do a revitalization project that included underground utility lines, McMahan said.

Gary Wade, a former Sevierville mayor and former Tennessee Supreme Court chief justice, said the two men grew up together. “The closer I get to being history, the more I love history,” Wade said. “He’s an expert.”

McMahan and his wife, Michelle, a nurse who retires May 17, plan a trip to Italy in retirement. The couple lives in Knoxville.

Georgiana Vines is retired News Sentinel associate editor. She may be reached at gvpolitics@hotmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Vines: Knox County mayor tops list of delegates to GOP convention