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Mary Alice Thomas, Brenda Dearing, Michael Kaplan and Cara Marshburn work the polls at Fountain City Library on Tuesday morning, May 6, 2014. By 8:30 a.m., they had seen only two voters. (ERIN CHAPIN/NEWS SENTINEL)

Republican and Democratic party leaders alike are encouraging voters to cast their ballots amid a GOP-dominated field of candidates in todays Knox County primary election.

Races for three County Commission district seats feature only Republican candidates, as well as a fourth, unopposed at-large seat.

The Sheriffs race also effectively will be decided in todays Republican primary, with incumbent Jimmy J.J. Jones facing Charles Sam Hammett Jr. and Robert Bobby Waggoner. The winner will run unopposed in the August election.

Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett also is running unopposed for re-election, which election officials have speculated could be part of the reason for such low turnout during early voting.

The two-week early voting period drew only 14,642 total voters among nearly 275,000 registered voters in Knox County.

Its always important for everyone to turn out and vote, said Ruthie Kuhlman, Knox County Republican Party chairwoman.

I have a lot of races depending on this election. ... This is huge for Knox County.

The ballot also includes unopposed candidates vying for county clerk, register of deeds, public defender and district attorney general.

The rest is here:
Several races to be decided in Knox primary election today