Last Saturday, the Times News ran interviews with two of the three candidates running for Third Judicial District circuit judge. Today, the paper reports that it inadvertently omitted responses from the third candidate, lawyer and former Child Support Magistrate Crystal Jessee. Read her answers to the same five questions answered by Bradley Mercer and William Phillips. All three are running in the Republican primary to serve individuals in Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties.

White Bluff Judge Leonard G. Belmares has announced he will not seek reelection to the municipal court and will instead seek the Republican nomination for circuit court judge. According to a release from his campaign, Belmares says he is “proud of what we have accomplished” since he was elected in 2014. “We have no backlog of cases, our court runs efficiently, and we are fair to everyone involved in the judicial process,” Belmares said in the release. “White Bluff was the first court in our Judicial District to submit a plan to provide continuous access during the COVID-19 shut down. I believe that efficiency and access are extremely important in the judicial system.” If elected, Belmares would serve Cheatham, Dickson, Houston, Humphreys and Stewart counties.

There are three candidates running for circuit judge for the 3rd Judicial District, which includes Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins counties. All of the candidates — Crystal Jessee, Bradley Mercer and William Phillips — are running in the Republican primary, the Times News reports. The paper posed the same questions to all three. Read responses here from Mercer and Phillips and from Jessee here.

Three Republicans are running for Washington County Sessions Court Judge Part II in the May 3 primary. Those in the race to succeed retiring Judge Don Arnold include Johnathan A. Minga, an attorney with the Tony Seaton Law Firm; Michael Rasnake, an assistant attorney general; and Stephanie Sherwood, a lawyer in private practice focusing on criminal, civil and juvenile matters. The winner of the primary will be unopposed on the Aug. 4 general election ballot, the Times News reports. The candidates answer a number of questions posed by the paper.

The Johnson City Press introduces the two candidates running to be public defender for the Third Judicial District, which includes Greene, Hamblen, Hancock and Hawkins Counties. DeAnna Snyder and Todd Estep are both running in the May Republican primary, and were asked the same five questions.

Scott County attorney Andy Tillman has announced his candidacy for General Sessions Court judge in the upcoming August general election, the Independent Herald reports. Tillman, who previously served as Chancery Court Judge in the 8th Judicial District, is one of three candidates vying to replace Judge Jamie Cotton, who is retiring this year. A 1989 graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law, Tillman has also served as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit and as senior clerk to Judge Charles Susano of the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Knoxville.

State Rep. Brandon Ogles, R-Franklin, says he will not seek a third term in the Tennessee House, TNJ: On the Hill reports. Ogles was elected in 2018 on a platform that included opposing school vouchers, but later became a key ally to then-House Speaker Glen Casada, R-Franklin, and voted for the voucher measure in a controversial 50-48 floor vote in 2019. In a tweet, Ogles said he now has been offered “an opportunity to be an advocate for victims of violent crimes.”

Luvell Glanton’s bid to remain on the ballot for the Circuit Court Division VIII seat in Davidson County suffered another setback Wednesday when a senior judge denied Glanton’s petition for a writ of certiorari to reverse a Davidson County Election Commission ruling on his eligibility to be on the Democratic primary ballot. The Nashville Post reports that Senior Judge Don Ash, standing in for Davidson County chancellors who recused themselves, wrote that the commission “clearly has the authority to make such determinations concerning the requirements of candidates to be placed on the ballot.”

State Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, filed papers today to run for the U.S. Congress in the newly redrawn 5th Congressional District. Campbell is the first well-known Democrat to enter the race since incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper announced he would retire, the Nashville Post reports. Campbell, the former mayor of Oak Hill in Davidson County, won the senate seat in 2020, beating incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Dickerson.

The Nashville Bar Association today released the results of a member poll of candidates being considered to serve on the bench, as district attorney or as court clerk in Davidson County. Members were asked to rate candidates in contested races as of noon on March 14. The NBA received 523 responses. Results are reported as raw ballot results with no attempt to extrapolate results. The association says it regularly polls its members regarding judicial elections to help the public assess candidates and help to ensure that the Nashville judiciary is highly qualified and dedicated to a fair and equitable legal system. The Nashville Post has initial reporting on the findings.