New paper ballots, new election administrator and Trump win define Maury County primary

Election season kicked off this week as Super Tuesday decided the nation's next potential president of the United States, as well as various seats in Maury County government.

The big race for the next four-year term in the White House, according to Maury County voters, favors former Republican President Donald J. Trump and incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden in their respective party primaries.

Trump would eventually clench the majority with 9,557 votes as the Republican nominee, while Biden secured the Democrat seat at 982 Democrat votes.

Most other Republican candidates resulted in the single digits as early votes and absentee results began to pour in, other than former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at 399 votes and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 23, who in addition announced his plans to drop out of the race in January.

Among the local Maury County races, most were uncontested, including multiple seats on the Maury County School Board and Circuit Court Judge for District 22.

The race for constable in District 7 included Republican candidates Patrick Ryan and Mark Schmittou, with Ryan coming out the narrow victor with 318 votes over 298 votes for Schmittou.

Voter turnout 12.86%

Of the 71,853 registered Maury County voters, 6,806 were reported on Tuesday, with 2,201 turning out for early voting and 145 absentees, bringing in a total of 9,242 votes, or approximately a 12.86% turnout.

While low numbers are to be expected, especially for a primary election, Maury County Administrator of Elections Chris Mackinlay said it was a "smooth election that went well, mostly thanks to the number of volunteers, election officers and staff."

Tuesday's election was also the first time in a long time paper ballots were available to voters after being approved by the Maury County Commission in 2022.

"My feeling is that we crushed it, were able to implement a new system and bring in a whole bunch of new officers with new training processes, and all 22 precincts rocked it," Mackinlay said. "And that's both Democrats and Republicans, all of the poll workers, the party didn't matter because we all wanted to run a good, solid election, and we did."

It was also Mackinlay's first Maury County election since becoming the county administrator last year and has lots to look forward to in the upcoming August primary and November General Election. Given the results and process of what he calls "his first rodeo," Mackinlay said he and his staff are primed and ready for what comes next.

"As my first election, when I see 12-13% turnout at a primary, I'll take it," Mackinlay said. "I'm a believer in building a bench, and so we brought along more officers, more special judges than what we needed. I'll never stop saying the praises of the people in this building, because anything good that comes out of the election commission, it's because of them. There's a greatness coming out of what they do, and there's definitely a lot more depth we want to create with our leadership team here."

The official results of the March 5 Super Tuesday Primary Election were:

Candidates for Republican Party

U.S. President

• Ryan Binkley - 8 votes

• Chris Christie - 14 votes

• Ron DeSantis - 104 votes

• Nikki Haley - 1,387 votes

• Asa Hutchinson - 2 votes

• Vivek Ramaswamy - 13 votes

• David Stuckenberg - 4 votes

• Donald J. Trump - 6,577 votes

Circuit Court Judge District 22

• Julie C. Heffington - 5,602 votes

Superintendent of Roads

• Ken McKee - 5,650 votes

School Board District 4

• Darryl Martin - 398 votes

School Board District 6

• Sue Stephenson - 766 votes

School Board District 8

• Brendan Babcock - 486 votes

Constable District 7

• Patrick Ryan - 318 votes

• Mark Schmittou - 298 votes

Constable District 11

• Aaron Easton - 723 votes

Candidates for Democratic Primary

U.S. President

• Joseph R. Biden - 982 votes

School Board District 8

• Gregory D. Hanners - 78 votes

Jay Powell is a general reporter for The Daily Herald. Get up-to-date news in your inbox by subscribing to The Daily Herald newsletter at www.ColumbiaDailyHerald.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Trump wins Republican Primary in Maury County by paper ballot