Early voting for both County General Election and Federal/State Primaries will begin on July 16 and end July 31st, and will be open Monday through Saturday from  9:00am to 6:00pm. During that time, voters can cast their vote at any of the three convenient locations: Election Commission Office, located at the old post office/courthouse annex downtown Cleveland, inside the Bradley Square Mall 'Community Room' in the food court area, and in the small gymnasium  of  Blythe-Bower School on 20th Street.

However, on the actual election day of August 5th, voters must vote at their given precincts between 8:00am to 8:00pm. Voters will need to show some form of identification, such as their voter registration card or drivers license.

For those not yet registered to vote, hurry, you have only until July 6th if you wish to take part in the August elections.

Many of the Bradley County government candidates that ran in the May Primary elections will now be unopposed in the county general election, with the exception of write-in votes.

Those facing opponents will be offices of  County Mayor: D. Gary Davis (Republican) who managed to defeat fellow party candidates in the Primary by a large margin, will  now face Paul Krisle (Democrat) and Erin Fuller (Independent), voters need select one candidate. 

County Commission 2nd District; Louie Alford (R), Connie Wilson (R) and Pam Edgemon (D), vote for two candidates.

3rd District; Tommy Anderson (R), Brian Smith (R) and Jeff D. Morelock (D), vote for two candidates. 

5th District; Bill Ledford (R), Jeff Yarber (R) and Mark I. Neeley (D), and  6th district; Melvin Griffith (R), Robert D. Rominger (R) and Donald Caywood (I).

The race for  Bradley County Sheriff should be an interesting one with both candidates, Jim Ruth (R) and  Steve Lawson (D), having much public support.

Candidates on the ballot for Bradley County School Board are non-partisan and are as follows: 2nd District; William T. Bates, Jr., Vicki Beaty, Richard McAlister and Hal O. Taylor, vote for one candidate.

4th District; David Crane and Troy Weathers, vote for one candidate.

6th District; Christy Griffith Critchfield, Nathan Headrick and Barry Phillips, vote for one candidate.

Seats in the City of Cleveland Election also non-partisan, will include that of  long time Mayor Tom Rowland who will have opponent Tony Ownby running for the position.

City Council seats up for grabs are in the 1st District, being vacated by councilwoman  Bambi Hines. Candidates for that seat are Charlie M. McKenzie and  former councilman,  Floyd Wade Jr. Incumbents, Bill Estes (2nd District) and Richard Banks (At Large) will be unopposed.

Three incumbents on the Cleveland City School Board will be unopposed, they are Dawn Robinson (3rd District), Peggy Pesterfield (4th District) and Tom Cloud (5th District). Running for At-Large seat to be vacated by Bill Brown is newcomer  Richard J. Shaw. 

Our friends in the City of Charleston need only to make one decision in their election, that of  Commissioner; Walter S. Goode or Tony Whitener.

Another election sure to be hot will be the Republican State Primary where voters need select one of five candidates competing for office of Governor, they are: Bill Haslam, Joe Kirkpatrick, Basil Marceaux, Sr., Ron Ramsey and Zach Wamp.

Also, the race for U.S. House of Representatives (3rd District) which has eleven Republican candidates on the ballot: Tommy Crangle, Chuck Fleischmann, present Bradley County Sheriff, Tim Gobble, Harvey Howard, Jean "Lady J" Howard-Hill, Van Irion, Rick Kernea, Basil Marceaux, Sr., Art Rhodes, Robin Smith and Grover Travillian.

Running for State Senate (9th District) are Mike Bell and Lou Patten.

State Representatives Kevin Brooks (24th District) and Eric Watson (22nd District) are unopposed.
Dan Howell will be running against John S. Stanbery for State Executive Committeeman (9th District) and Emily Beaty and Linda P. Dugan for State Executive Committeewoman.

On the ballot for Democratic State Primary, only one candidate, Mike McWherter is running for the office of Governor, while voters need choose one out of four candidates running for U.S. House of Representatives, they are; Alicia Mitchell, Brenda Freeman Short, Brent Davis Staton, and John Wolfe.