This story is part of our Voter’s Guide to the 2016 Knox County Primary Elections.
Knox County Property Assessor
Andrew Graybeal
Balance on hand: $3,458.05
Total contributions: $3,475
Contributions of $100 or less: $725
Spent this period: $16.95
Loans by candidate to campaign: None
Jim Weaver
Balance on hand: $44,294.92
Total contributions: $55,907.47
Contributions of $100 or less: $2,907.47
Spent this period: $12,334.17
Loans by candidate to campaign: $2,000
John Whitehead
Balance on hand: $87,475
Total contributions: $13,625
Contributions of $100 or less: $2,475
Spent this period: $11,150
Loans by candidate to campaign: $85,000
***
Knox County Law Director
Bud Armstrong
Balance on hand: $44,676.60
Total contributions: $50,0598
Contributions of $100 or less: $8,095
Spent this period: $10, 211.35
Loans by candidate to campaign: $32,245
Nathan Rowell
Balance on hand: $59,240.47
Total contributions: $66,420
Contributions of $100 or less: $1,100
Spent this period: $7,179.53
Loans by candidate to campaign: $7,000
A lot of local politicians and attorneys have been attracted to the law director race, with lots of movers and shakers backing Armstrong, including: State Representatives Roger Kane, Harry Brooks, and Jason Zachary; Knox County Property Assessor Phil Ballard and his chief deputy Jim Weaver; former Knox County Criminal Clerk Joy McCroskey; Knox County Commissioner Dave Wright; state judge Telford Fogerty Jr.; Knox County school board members Danny Sanders and Patti Lou Bounds; businessmen Jim Haslam II and Bill Weigel; Elect (Knox County Mayor Tim) Burchett, and (U.S. Rep. John J.) Duncan for Congress.
In addition, Armstrong received donations from a handful of Knox County Sheriff’s Office employees and Knox County District Attorney office lawyers. He received $1,600 in donations from employees of Priority Ambulance, a company that edged out Rural/Metro for the contract to provide ambulance service to Loudoun County last year. As law director, Armstrong helped county officials negotiate with Rural/Metro last year over whether the ambulance provider was meeting its contractual obligations for response times and ambulance availability.
Nathan Rowell also received many donations from attorneys as well as business owners associated with housing (such as George Wallace of Wallace & Wallace realty, Philip Lawson with Lawler Wood). Like his opponent, he received a contribution from the Haslam family ($3,000 to Armstrong’s $1,000). Knoxville Mercury columnist Joe Sullivan III gave $1,500.
S. Heather Duncan has won numerous awards for her feature writing and coverage of the environment, government, education, business and local history during her 15-year reporting career. Originally from Western North Carolina, Heather has worked for Radio Free Europe, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in London, and several daily newspapers. Heather spent almost a dozen years at The Telegraph in Macon, Ga., where she spent most of her time covering the environment or writing project-investigations that provoked changes such as new laws related to day care and the protection of environmentally-sensitive lands. You can reach Heather at heather@knoxmercury.com
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