Marsh wins GOP primary in state House race

State Sen. Jim Tracy congratulates fellow Republican Pat Marsh on Marsh's victory in the primary for the vacant 62nd District state House of Representatives seat. Marsh will face Democrat Ty Cobb II and independent Chris Brown of the Constitution Party in the Oct. 13 special election. (T-G Photo by John I. Carney) [Order this photo]

Pat Marsh of Shelbyville won Thursday's Republican primary for the vacant 62nd District Tennessee House of Representatives seat. Unofficial vote totals have him drawing more votes than his three opponents combined.

District-wide, Marsh drew 1,826 votes to Bobby Scott's 397, Casey Walters' 348 and Joseph Byrd's 48.

In Bedford County, Marsh received 1,154 votes to 330 for Scott, 93 for Walters and 37 for Byrd.

The district includes all of Bedford County, and parts of Lincoln and Rutherford counties.

Ty Cobb II was unopposed in the Democratic primary. He received 557 courtesy votes district-wide, including 332 in Bedford County. Ty Cobb II is the brother of Curt Cobb, who resigned from the seat effective July 1 in order to take a position in the Bedford County court system.

Marsh, Cobb and Chris Brown, who is listed as an independent on the ballot but endorsed by the Constitution Party, will face each other in the Oct. 13 special election. Marsh received the election results at a party at the 50s & Fiddles ice cream parlor and music hall on Depot Street. He told the Times-Gazette he was surprised at the margin of victory, but credited it to many friends and relatives working on his behalf. Marsh is a resident of Bedford County but a native of Lincoln County who said he had many family members campaigning for him there as well.

"Everybody was working for me," said Marsh.

He praised his opponents as well, mentioning runner-up Bobby Scott by name.

"I appreciate them running a decent race, and hope they'll support me in the general," said Marsh.

"We know we're going to have to work hard, but we're ready to go," said Marsh.

Cobb, too, is looking forward.

"I feel good about it," he said this morning. "I'm just looking for a good general election."

If elected to the seat, Marsh said his priority would be bringing jobs to the district.

Cobb, too, said jobs would be the key issue in the election.

"A lot of people are out of work in the district," he said.

Brown will be listed on the general election ballot as an independent, because state law makes it challenging for third parties to be listed on the ballot by party. But the Constitution Party has endorsed him on its web site.

Turnout in the race was light with 1,950, or 8.47 percent of registered voters, participating. By comparison, last November's presidential election drew 15,759 voters.