Anderson Dems

09/07/2026

The Grassroots vs. Greed Rally is in Anderson County this week! We are thrilled to highlight a few of the people who will be joining us.

John Pavlovitz
Ali Simpson - Tennessee House District 32
David Miller for Tennessee
Backus for TN33

Let us know if you will be there and invite your friends. (link in comments)

09/06/2026

58 DAYS. That’s what stands between today and Election Day.

We have Democrats running from the courthouse to Congress, a County Commission seat to defend, voters to reach, doors to knock, calls to make, and a whole lot of work ahead of us.

You don’t have to do everything. Find out what we have going on. Pick one thing this week and come do it with us.

Friday night, Democrats in County Commission District 8 came together and chose Gina Grubb as our Democratic nominee for County Commission.

09/05/2026

Meet Gina Grubb, the Democratic nominee for Anderson County Commission District 8.

If you’ve lived in Oak Ridge for any length of time, there’s a good chance you already know Gina, or have crossed paths with her somewhere along the way.

Oak Ridge has been Gina’s home or workplace since she was three years old. Over the years, she has served others as an emergency dispatcher, patrol officer, school resource officer, business manager, and public school teacher.

Her political involvement goes back years as well. In her message to District 8 caucus voters, Gina served as a Bernie Sanders representative on the Rules Committee at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She described the unexpected District 8 vacancy as the moment that prompted her to take that involvement a step further and seek public office herself.

Gina says her priorities are straightforward: honest and transparent county government, accountability to the people it serves, keeping residents informed before important decisions are made, challenging waste and misconduct, protecting constitutional rights and natural resources, and making sure people who are too often overlooked have a voice.

For Gina, though, this starts with home. When she isn’t working or volunteering, Gina and her wife, Beth, enjoy traveling, learning about history, and exploring new places. But, as she told caucus voters, she always loves coming home.

In Gina’s words: “I’m asking for your vote because I want to serve with courage, fairness, and an unshakable commitment to the public good.”

Friday night, District 8 Democrats selected Gina Grubb as their nominee for Anderson County Commission District 8. The special caucus was held after the District 8 vacancy created the need for a party nomination ahead of the November 3 general election.

District 8 voters already elected a Democrat to this seat in August. In November, they’ll do it again.

09/05/2026

Tonight, District 8 Democrats came together and chose their nominee.

District 8 is in an unusual position: voters who chose this County Commission seat in August will have another say in November. With no time for another primary, tonight’s special caucus brought District 8 Democrats together in Oak Ridge to hear from candidates and select a nominee for the November 3 general election.

Gina Grubb was selected as the Democratic nominee for Anderson County Commission District 8.

Thank you to every candidate who stepped forward, every volunteer who helped make tonight possible, and every District 8 Democrat who came out to participate.

A lot has happened in a very short time. Tonight, a room full of neighbors helped write the next chapter.

District 8 voted a Democrat in once in August. In November, they’ll get to do it again.

09/04/2026

Okay, East Tennessee Democrats... THIS is a lineup. 🔥

Want to see Jerri Green, Michaela For Tennessee, Anna Golladay for Congress, State Representative Gloria Johnson, Ali Simpson, labor leaders, community leaders, candidates from across East Tennessee.... all in one place?

Our friends at the Roane County Democratic Party are bringing everybody together for their annual East Tennessee Labor Day Picnic! 🌭☀️🐴

Featuring:

💙 Jerri Green — Candidate for Tennessee Governor
💙 Michaela Barnett — Candidate for U.S. Congress, District 2
💙 Anna Golladay — Candidate for U.S. Congress, District 3
💙 Rep. Gloria Johnson — Tennessee House District 90
💙 Ali Simpson — Candidate for Tennessee House District 32
💪 Derek Guy — International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
✊ Tiffany Eskridge — Roane County Branch NAACP
…and more!

Monday, September 7 | 11 AM–1 PM

If you want to meet the people running, organizing, and building across East Tennessee, this is the place to be.

👇 Details are in the comments.

09/03/2026

Join our Commission District 6 Dems this evening at 5:30pm at our headquarters (14 Kentucky Ave Oak Ridge) for their monthly meeting.

District 6 is the Oak Ridge City Hall, Robertsville, & West Hills precincts in Oak Ridge.

Hosted by District Leaders Rachel Carlson and Laura Gift Join fellow Democrats from District 6 for our monthly meeting, where we’ll come together to connect, organize, and plan for the months ahead. District Leaders Rachel Carlson and Laura Gift will share updates on Anderson County Democratic Par...

09/02/2026

Happy birthday to our Chair Emeritus, Liz Ibbotson. 💙

There is a lot about the Anderson County Democratic Party today that probably would not exist in quite the same way without Liz.

When she was Chair, she pushed us to take ourselves more seriously as an organization and, just as importantly, she was willing to let us try new things. We started running local Democrats as a party, which we hadn’t before. We got ourselves to the point where we could open an actual headquarters, and all these years later, those doors are still open.

But one of the things about Liz that people closest to her know is that she has always been much better at remembering the decisions she thought were mistakes than the many, many decisions she got right.

She could have ten things work and go home worrying about the eleventh. That is partly because she cares so much about getting it right.

And it is why, on her birthday, we hope she’ll let the rest of us remind her of some of the good.

Liz has always been the person who shows up when something needs to be done. She helps. She works. She carries more than her share. Usually without complaining… Mostly. 😂

This birthday comes at a particularly hard moment for her and her family, so we hope today brings a little bit of joy with it, too.

Happy birthday, Liz.

We love you, we appreciate you, and this party is better because you were willing to lead it.

09/01/2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 1, 2026
Anderson County Democrats Issue Official Call for District 8 Nominating Caucus

Open caucus will be held Friday, September 4; District 8 Democrats will choose the Party’s nominee for County Commission

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — The Anderson County Democratic Party has issued the official call for a District 8 Democratic Special Nominating Convention, conducted as a special caucus, to select the Democratic nominee for the vacant Anderson County Commission District 8 seat in the November 3, 2026 general election.

The caucus will be held Friday, September 4, at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Social Hall, 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike in Oak Ridge.

Credentialing begins at 5:00 p.m.
The caucus begins at 6:00 p.m.

The caucus is open to the public. Anyone may attend and observe the proceedings, regardless of where they live.

Voting will be limited to eligible, credentialed Democratic voters who reside in Anderson County Commission District 8 and meet the participation standards established in the caucus rules adopted by the Anderson County Democratic Party Executive Committee.

“The Executive Committee’s responsibility is to establish a fair process and administer it — not to choose the nominee,” said Anderson County Democratic Party Chair Chase Lindsey. “District 8 Democrats will make that choice.”

Tennessee does not register voters by political party. Anyone seeking to vote in the caucus will go through the credentialing process established in the adopted rules, including verification of voter registration and District 8 residence, completion of a Democratic affirmation, and review of available primary-participation history.

Primary-participation history shows which party primary a voter participated in. It does not show how anyone voted for an individual candidate.

Participant pre-registration:

District 8 voters planning to participate may pre-register in advance to help make credentialing faster Friday evening.

Pre-registration is optional and is not required to participate. Completing the form does not guarantee eligibility. Everyone seeking to vote in the caucus must still complete in-person credentialing under the adopted rules.

Anyone physically in the credentialing line at 6:00 p.m. will be permitted to complete the credentialing process.

Prospective candidates:

Anyone interested in seeking the Democratic nomination should submit the Party’s Candidate Declaration Form as soon as possible.

The Party’s administrative target for declarations is Thursday, September 3 at 6:00 p.m. The target allows time for eligibility review and caucus preparation and is not the statutory ballot-access deadline.

The eventual nominee will also be responsible for completing the separate qualifying requirements administered by the Anderson County Election Commission.

“The room is open,” Lindsey said. “The vote belongs to District 8 Democrats.”

# # #

MEDIA CONTACT
Chase Lindsey, Chair
Anderson County Democratic Party
[email protected]
731-608-5119

09/01/2026

Today, by an 8–7 vote, the Anderson County Commission elected Robert McKamey as its new chair, replacing Denise Palmer. Every Democrat on the Commission voted for McKamey.

And we didn’t have to wait long to see why that change matters.

The very first issue Terry Frank raised with the newly seated Commission was District 8, where voters just elected Liz Henry, who will not take office.

By Frank’s own remarks, she and the Republican Party have already been having conversations about what she wants to happen with that seat. She even told commissioners she believes there is “currently no vacancy.”

… Ma’am, there are 15 commissioners sitting up there, not 16. But this is bigger than one vacant seat.

For years, Terry Frank has worked to put more and more of Anderson County government under her control. Now, after District 8 voters went to the polls and chose their representative, she is already working behind the scenes to influence who sits in that seat next.

Elections are supposed to mean something. Voters should choose their representatives… not courthouse insiders deciding among themselves who gets to represent them.

Today, Terry Frank lost the Commission chair she could count on.

And the first question facing this new majority may already be here: Does Terry Frank get to control yet another piece of Anderson County government, or do the voters finally come first?

A new majority. A new direction. A new day for Anderson County.