Renea Jones has announced that she will run to represent Tennessee's Fourth District, which covers Unicoi County and much of Carter County, to replace outgoing Rep. John Holsclaw, an Elizabethton Republican in his fifth term who has said he does not plan to seek reelection. WJHL reports that Jones served on the Unicoi County School Board for 12 years and was elected president of the state school boards association. She has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech and a master’s in crop science and integrated pest management from North Carolina State University and serves as chair of Unicoi County’s Farm Bureau. Jones will face Elizabethton Mayor Curt Alexander in the Aug. 4 Republican primary.

Williamson County resident Kiran Sreepada recently confirmed he will run for the Democratic nomination to challenge 5th District U.S. Rep. and Republican Andy Ogles, reports the Tennessee Lookout. Sreepada, a political and public policy professional who ran against U.S. Rep. Mark Green in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District in 2020, is the first Democrat to announce a challenge to Ogles. According to the Tennessean, two other Democrats are considering a primary run. They are Nashville advocate and Metro Human Relations Commission Chair Maryam Abolfazli and Metro Council member Courtney Johnson. Two others have filed paperwork to run in the Republican primary. They are singer-songwriter Stokes Nielson and Brentwood cybersecurity expert Thomas “Tom” Guarente.

Nashville Council member Courtney Johnston is considering a Republican primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, according to Axios. Johnston has high name recognition and strong ties to business leaders and Republicans, the news source reports. Johnston was elected to the metro council after defeating incumbent Jeremy Elrod in 2019. Her background includes a career as a real estate agent and experience with finance. Ogles won the District 5 seat in 2022 after facing a crowded primary and defeating state Sen. Heidi Campbell in the general election.

The Tennessee Journal recaps the outcome of this week’s judicial races in its print publication out today. Races previously not included in TBA Today reporting include a four-way contest for the Republican nomination to fill an unexpired chancellorship in Anderson County. In that race, Daniel Forrester defeated Gov. Bill Lee’s appointee Jamie Brooks, 46% to 31%. Lee named Brooks to the position after Chancellor Nicki Cantrell stepped down. In addition, longtime Knox County Law Director David Buuck turned back a Republican primary challenge from former county party chair Daniel Herrera by a margin of 23 percentage points. The piece also takes an in-depth look at Andrée Blumstein’s tenure are the state solicitor general. Blumstein’s departure was announced on March 4 by the state attorney general.

Chattanooga attorney Kisha Cheeks officially kicked off her bid for Hamilton County Circuit Court judge. She is running as a Democrat and will face current Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Alex McVeagh in the August general election. McVeagh won the Republican primary on Tuesday. Cheeks has served as the principal attorney at the Cheeks Rucker Firm for the past seven years. She says serving as a judge would be the “opportunity of a lifetime.” Read more about her campaign from Chattanoogan.com.

Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Alex McVeagh won the Republican nomination for a Circuit Court judge seat according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. McVeagh and Chattanooga attorney Michele Coffman were both seeking the nomination in the race to replace former Circuit Court Judge Marie Williams, who stepped down from the bench six years before her term was set to expire. McVeagh received 17,365 votes to Coffman's 12,599. Alex McVeagh serves on the board of the TBA YLD as vice president and as the ABA YLD representative.

Tami Sawyer will be the Democratic nominee for Shelby County General Sessions Court clerk, the Commercial Appeal reports. Sawyer, a former Shelby County commissioner and Memphis mayoral candidate, ran on a platform of modernizing the General Sessions Court system and reducing the case backlog. Incumbent Joe Brown, who came in second in the primary, had denied a backlog existed. "My opponents are giving out misinformation. I wanted to let you know that General Sessions Civil or Criminal do not have a backlog of cases," Brown said in an email to the paper. Sawyer will face former Shelby County Criminal Court clerk's office employee and Republican nominee Lisa Arnold in August for the general election. Arnold says she has worked in the court system for her entire career and wants to make customer service a priority in the courts.

Franklin trial attorney and former police officer David Veile won the Republican primary for the 21st Judicial District Circuit Court seat yesterday, defeating incumbent appointee Erin Nations. He will advance to the general election, but with no Democratic opponent currently on the ballot, he likely will be unopposed. Veile is a former TBA Board of Governors member and former president of the TBA Young Lawyers Division. Gov. Bill Lee had appointed Nations to the court following Judge Michael Binkley’s retirement in September 2023. Nations said she will support Veile’s transition into the role, according to the Williamson Herald.

Stephen Hatchett won a three-way race for the Republican nomination for district attorney in the 10th Judicial District, defeating incumbent appointee Shari Tayloe and fellow challenger and former state lawmaker Jeff Miller. Hatchett won more than 36% of the total vote in the district that serves Bradley, McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. Tayloe netted 34% while Miller drew about 30%. Gov. Bill Lee appointed Tayloe in July after longtime DA Stephen Crump resigned to take over as executive director of the Tennessee District Attorney General's Conference. No Democratic candidates were on the ballot for the seat, so Hatchett will be unopposed in August and sworn in Sept. 1, Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.

Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Alex McVeagh yesterday won the Republican nomination for a Circuit Court judge seat according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. McVeagh and Chattanooga attorney Michele Coffman were both seeking the nomination in the race to replace former Circuit Court Judge Marie Williams, who stepped down from the bench six years before her term was set to expire. McVeagh received 17,365 votes to Coffman's 12,599. See all county primary election results.