The Tuesday evening candidate forum at Whittle Springs Middle School was a great success, attracting most of those seeking appointment to the open positions in Knox County government. They had a chance to speak before 13 of the 19 county commissioners, and answer questions from an audience of around 200 people.
Volunteers from the League of Women Voters helped me conduct a preference poll of those attending. Those numbers are presented below, but one should stress that these are but one measure that likely will guide county commissioners in their decisions on Wednesday. Other important factors will be the qualifications of the applicants and their answers to the varied questions (storm water, land development, taxes, school support, etc.) raised by the audience.
Most of the attendees were from the Second District, and most (but not all) appeared to follow the instruction to vote only in their own district and the countywide offices, Thus, with all the precautions about a preference poll ballot, these numbers were tallied at the end by two LWV volunteers:

More after the jump...

District Two: Amy Broyles, 62: Jonathan Wimmer, 31; Cortney Piper, 21; Joseph L. Williams, 8; Deborah Porter, 6; Bruce White, 3: Steve Roberts, 2; write-in for Greg McKay, 1; Charles Bolus, 0.

Sheriff: Randy Tyree, 83; JJ Jones, 24; Isa Infante, 6; J. Lee Tramel, 3; and one vote each for Eric Beals, and write-ins for Bobby Waggoner and Jim Andrews.

Trustee: Fred Sisk, 54; Jeannie Mathews, 19.

Register of Deeds: Scott Emge, 58; Sherry Witt, 30; Arrison Kirby, 15; one write in for Bill Waters.

Clerk of Courts: Billy Tindell, 39; George Stooksbury, 38; Carolyn Carter Jensen, 26; twelve write-in votes for Kelvin Moxley, five for Jim Andrews; and one for Michael Paseur.

District One: Nick Della Volpe, 23; Helen Diane Lewis, 10; Evelyn Gill and Josh Jordan, 9 each; Leslie Terry, 5; Robert Minter, 4; Ann Dingus, 2; and one each for Jewel Cason, Rubye Wright, and Pete Drew.

District Four: Elaine Davis, 42; Ed Shouse and Joan Wagner, 10 each; Scott Davis, 8; Lee Tramel, 6; William Daniels and Richard Cate, five each; Debbie Barton, 3; Mike Alford, Archie Ellis and Lisa Bogaty, two each, Craig Fisher, 1; James Smelcher, 0.

District Five: Tom Salter, 35; Brian Hornback, 6; Robin Butler, 3; Tamara Boyer, Kyle Philips, and Gregory Harrison, two each; one for Teresa Shupp; no votes for Marilyn Cobble, Ken Gross, or Pamela Treacy.

District Six: Sharon Cawood, 23; Charles Giles and Jimmie Shelton, 8 each; Justin Wiseman and Roger Hyman, two each; one write-in for Kelvin Moxley; Randy Williams, 0.

District Eight: Jack Huddleston, 10; Kay Frazier and Tom Pressley, 7 each; Jim Eubanks, 6; Maurice Freed, 4; Doug Dawkins and Gary Koontz, two each; Teresa Clapp, 1; one write-in for Gary Sellers; George Carney, 0.

District Nine: Joshua Lowe, 8; Matthew Myers, 7; Rob Huddleston and Gary Underwood, 4 each; Randy Hinton, 3; Bob Norton, 2; one each for write-ins Steve McGill, Bruce Hill, Martin Pleasant, and Mike Leventhal; Chuck Ward, 0.

--Mark Harmon