Kanye West’s presidential campaign met today’s deadline to submit a petition to appear on Tennessee’s November ballot, the Tennessean reports. West’s petition, which must have the signatures of 275 registered state voters, was turned in by Sir Isaac Ford, the son of longtime U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Sr., a Memphis Democrat who retired from Congress in 1997. The signatures have yet to be reviewed on the petition submitted by West, whose campaign has struggled to get on the ballot in some other states, failing to meet required deadlines or facing problems during the signature verification process. If his petition qualifies, the rapper and record producer would appear on the ballot as an independent.

Knox County voters will decide whether the county law director should be appointed rather than elected when they cast their ballots in November. The referendum comes after public disagreements between Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs and Law Director Bud Armstrong. Jacobs argues that an appointed law director would result in a better relationship between the two officials and would streamline county business. If an appointment method is selected, the county commission and school board also would be allowed to hire their own lawyers, Knoxnews reports.

The Administrative Office of the Courts released this wrap up of results from yesterday’s judicial races. In addition to the races covered in other stories, Smith County General Sessions Court Judge Michael Collins defeated Carthage attorney Branden Bellar for the 15th Judicial District Circuit Court seat being vacated by Judge John D. Wooten Jr. and Judge Brooklynn Townsend, who was appointed to the Polk County General Sessions Court last November, prevailed over Polk County attorney Laura M. Crawford.

Three legislative seats being vacated by Republicans this year drew multiple candidates in Republican primaries. In the race to replace District 3 Rep. Timothy Hill of Blountville, Scotty Campbell prevailed over Neal Kerney 73% to 26%. In the race to replace District 18 Rep. Martin Daniel of Knoxville, Eddie Mannis is expected to defeat Gina Oster by a slight margin. In the race to replace District 26 Sen. Dolores Gresham of Memphis, Bolivar Vice Mayor Page Walley defeated former state Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton 53% to 47%.

Despite all of the state House seats and half of the Senate seats up for reelection yesterday, most incumbents went unchallenged in their primaries or easily defeated challengers. However, four House members did lose their re-election bids. They are: Republicans Matthew Hill of Jonesborough, Rick Tillis of Lewisburg, and Micah Van Huss of Gray; and Democrat Rick Staples of Knoxville. Hill — a former deputy speaker and 16 year veteran of the General Assembly — lost to Rebecca Alexander in a 27 point landslide. Tillis lost to Todd Warner by an eight point margin. And Van Huss suffered a 15 point loss to Tim Hicks. Staples will lose to either Sam McKenzie or Matthew Park, who are locked in a tight race for first place. The Tennessean has a wrap up of all contested races.

Joe Brown, a former Memphis City Council member who ran unsuccessfully in 2019 for city court clerk, beat Paul Boyd, a former probate court clerk, in the race yesterday for Shelby County General Sessions Court clerk. With all 166 precincts countywide reporting, unofficial totals show Brown with 64,230 votes to 42,073 for Boyd, the Daily Memphian reports. Brown, who was a council member for 21 years, succeeds outgoing Democratic clerk Ed Stanton, who decided not to seek re-election.

Incumbent Circuit Court Judge Bonita Jo Atwood fended off a challenge from Murfreesboro attorney Jack Mitchell yesterday to keep her seat, the Daily News Journal reports. According to unofficial results, Atwood won with 63% or 23,667 of the votes while Mitchell garnered 13,922. Earlier in the election cycle, a poll of Rutherford-Cannon County Bar Association members showed strong support for Mitchell. Atwood was appointed to the seat in May following the retirement of Judge Royce Taylor. She is the first woman to fill the seat. She will serve two years and then stand for an eight-year term in 2022.

Paris attorney Vicki Hoover defeated Hardin County attorney Ben Harmon for chancellor of the 24th Judicial District, the Paris Post-Intelligencer reports. Hoover pointed out that her election represents the first time a woman from Henry County will serve as chancellor and the first time in 52 years that the seat will be filled by someone from Henry County. Hoover said she is looking forward to getting to work, starting with cleaning up a backlog of cases. Hoover will serve the remaining term of Judge Carma Dennis McGee, who was appointed to the Court of Appeals in April 2019. McGee easily won her retention election.

Former ambassador Bill Hagerty won the Republican primary yesterday in the race to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. His resounding victory over challenger Manny Sethi came as a surprise as late-breaking polls suggested the race had tightened. In the Democratic primary, Marquita Bradshaw pulled off an upset victory over former prosecutor and Nashville lawyer James Mackler, who reportedly was the Democratic party establishment's choice. In the race for the 5th Congressional District, former public defender Keeda Haynes fell short in her bid to unseat incumbent Jim Cooper. The long-serving Cooper almost certainly will return to Congress for a 16th term, as no Republicans qualified for the race. Both Bradshaw and Haynes emphasized progressive policies, criminal justice reform and racial injustice as key elements of their campaigns. The Nashville Post has more on both of those contests. The race to fill the 1st Congressional District seat of retiring Rep. Phil Roe also drew widespread attention. In the crowded field of state legislators such as Sen. Rusty Crowe and Reps. Timothy Hill and David Hawk, as well as several mayors, political newcomer Diana Harshbarger won with 19% of the vote. In November, she will take on Democrat Blair Walsingham. Knoxcom has that story.

More than twice as many Tennessee voters cast ballots during early voting for the Aug. 6 election this year as during early voting for the August 2016 election, WJHL reports. Data provided by the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office shows that more than 578,000 people voted during the 14-day early voting period that ended last Saturday. That’s up from 281,000 four years ago. In-person voting for federal and state primaries and county general elections is set for tomorrow. Election information, including polling locations and times, is available on the Secretary of State’s website. Unofficial election results will be posted here.