With the May 3rd Primary elections less than one week away, here are the contested races that will appear on your ballot in Cumberland County and background information on the candidates.

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE, 13TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT PART 2

Caroline Knight: 

She has served more than 10 years as an Assistant District Attorney General, with the past five years as a felony child abuse prosecutor.

Prior to joining the District Attorney’s office, Caroline spent five years in private practice. Her broad knowledge of the law comes from handling cases in both civil and criminal courts. While in private practice, Caroline advocated on behalf of clients in adoption, divorce, and child custody cases, as well as contract and property disputes, civil torts, and estates.

Jonathan Young:

Jonathan Young is a circuit court judge for the Thirteenth Circuit Court in Tennessee. He was elected to the court on August 7, 2014, for a term expiring in 2022. Serving: Clay, Cumberland, DeKalb, Overton, Pickett, Putnam and White Counties in Tennessee. Circuit Courts are courts of general jurisdiction in Tennessee. Circuit court judges hear civil and criminal cases and appeals of decisions from Juvenile, Municipal, and General Sessions Courts.

ASSESSOR OF PROPERTY, UNEXPIRED TERM;

This office is only on this ballot due to the loss of the Assessor of Property Powell who was elected two years ago. This office is usually staggered with other county elections therefore this is a ‘special election’ to elect an Assessor for the next two years when the regular Assessor of Property election will be held.

Sandy Gilbert: 

Sandy Gilbert has worked in the Assessors office for  31 years.  She was appointed as interim Assessor by the Cumberland County Commission last year following the death of Lori Powell.  Sandy began her career in the Assessors office under Assessor Ralph Barnwell in 1990. Sandy was appointed Deputy Assessor under Assessor Lori Powell.  She works with the board of equalization and handles the duties of Assessor of Property as the interim Assessor as well as manages the day-to-day operations of the Assessors office.

Tom Howard:

Tom has worked for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department since 1994. During his career with the sheriff’s office, he has held many positions including Deputy Sheriff, Sergeant, Lieutenant, General Departmental Instructor (Training Officer), and is currently assigned to the Special Investigation Unit as a Criminal Investigator. Tom has received numerous awards including the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Officer of the Year in 1997 and was awarded Deputy Sheriff of the Year in 2016. He also served as a volunteer firefighter for both the Crossville City and Cumberland County Fire Departments where he was awarded Crossville Volunteer Fireman of the Year in 1997.

Mark Madden:

Mark is currently a Field Appraiser for the Cumberland County Assessor of Property office and has been for the past ten years. Before that he worked in the construction business.  His goal is to maintain a good relationship with the public and have an open-door policy and assure citizens the records are accurate and up to date.  Mark has a good report with fellow workers in the Assessors office. Mark says he also is old school and believes the Assessor should keep in contact with the citizens.

Kelli Tipton:

Kelli is the founder and CEO of Grace Givers Home Care, a local home-based service business that has operated here in Crossville since 2017. Her business was named Business of the Year by the Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce. On average she has employed over 30 full-time positions in her company. Kelli is an active member of the Fairfield Glade Rotary, Chairwoman for The Alzheimer’s Tennessee Walk to Make Alzheimer’s a Memory Fundraiser, and the current Vice President of the Republican Women’s Club. Kelli has been a Board Member for the Crossville Young Professional’s Alliance, Advisory Board Member for the County Wide Music and Memory Initiative, and has also sat on the UCHRA Policy Council. She has been individually recognized by our Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce as Bronze Ambassador of the Year.

TRUSTEE:

Kyle Davis:

Kyle currently works for Crab Orchard Utility District. He has an associate degree with a focus on business. Kyle is currently a Cumberland County Commissioner for District 2.  He has been the Vice-Chairman of the Budget Committee and the Chairman of the Debt Management Committee for Cumberland County, Chairman of the Emergency Services Committee, Secretary of the Regional Planning Commission, and on the TCSA Governmental Affairs Committee.

Kim Tollett Wyatt:

Kim is the incumbent Cumberland County Trustee since being elected in 2010. She is seeking re-election to this office. She attended Cumberland County High School and graduated from Roane State with a Business Management degree.

GENERAL SESSIONS JUDGE

Nathan Clouse:

Nathan is a native Putnam Countian and moved to Crossville in 2000.   He holds an accounting degree from Tennessee Tech. He graduated from Nashville School of Law after a career in accounting and banking.

He has owned and operated his own law practice in Crossville since 2015 representing a wide variety of cases including criminal defense, family, juvenile law, general practice, tax law, estate planning, and trusts. Nathan and his wife are foster parents.

Ivy Gardner Mayberry:

Ivy attended Cumberland University to play women’s basketball and graduated from the Labry School of Business with a Bachelor’s in Marketing in May 2006. She received her Master’s in Business Administration in 2007.  Ivy received her law degree from Lincoln Memorial University – Duncan School of Law in 2013.

After graduation, Ivy opened her own law practice in October 2013 which she still owns and operates today. Ivy’s firm handles appellate, criminal, family, juvenile, and estate law. Ivy also joined the Federal bar in October 2019.

Ivy is in her fourth term as Crossville City Judge and Administrative Hearing Officer.

Amanda Worley:

 Amanda attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

From there she attended Nashville School of Law obtaining her Doctorate of Jurisprudence in 2007. That same year she became a licensed attorney and started her career for the 13th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for the State of Tennessee.  She has served as Assistant District Attorney for the past 15 years.

Amanda was elected as Chairman of the Cumberland County Republican Party in 2019. She was elected Secretary of the Cumberland County Republican Women’s Club in 2017. Both were positions she held until 2021 when stepping down to begin her campaign for General Sessions Judge.

REGISTER OF DEEDS

Trey Kerley:

Trey has an Associates Degree of Applied Science from Roane State. He has served as 5th District Cumberland County Commissioner, is current board member of the Cumberland County Regional Planning Commission, has served on the Cumberland County 911 Board of Directors since 2011, is former chairman of the Tansi Sewer Utility District and currently is in his twentieth year as Sales and service consultant for Mayberry’s Furniture.

Steve Powell:

ROAD SUPERINTENDENT

Scott Griffin:

Scott has worked for the Cumberland County Road Department for the past 20 years and foreman with the County Road Department for 11 years.  As foreman, Scott administers work orders and oversees department road workers, surveys issues with county roads for any possible need to be repaired for safety concerns.

Stanley Hall:

Stanley Hall worked for the Cumberland County Road Department for 30 years.  He has served 10 years on the Cumberland County Planning Commission, four years as Cumberland County Commissioner, eight years as a member and four years as president of a local utility district.

Kevin Music:

After high school, Kevin started with the county road department and worked for several years before joining the city’s department, where he has worked for 22 years. Kevin has served the City of Crossville for the past 8 years as the City Street Manager.   He served 10 years as Crew Leader/ Heavy Equipment Operator- 4 years as Light Equipment Operator- 10 years working for the Cumberland County Highway Department.  Certified Level 1 Storm Water – Certified Road Way Maintenance- Certified in Work Zone Safety.

SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 5

Nicholas Davis:

My family and I have deeply established roots in Cumberland County; we love our hometown conservative values and also watching it grow and succeed. As a business professional, I know that the only way for a community to succeed is through the efforts and actions put forth by its citizens, with our school system being the gateway to success for our future generations.

Randall Hopkins:

Randal is a Tennessee liason for Bikers against Bullies. Bikers Against Bullies formed in 2012 in Montana to education children in the schools and communities about the impact of bullying with a message of respect for others.  Earlier this year, he met with the safety committee of the Cumberland County Board of Education and has been in contact with Security Supervisor Bo Magnusson. 

DEMOCRAT PRIMARY

There are no contested races in the Democrat Primary.