CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Incumbent state Sen. Bill Powers won the Republican nomination for his Senate seat on Thursday night, beating out challenger Doug Englen in a race that see-sawed from Englen to Powers as early voting results came in.

State Senate District 22 covers Montgomery, Stewart and Houston counties.

With the early vote returns from Stewart and Houston counties, Englen was winning about 60% to 40%. But the delayed returns from Montgomery County put Powers up by the same 20-point margin, only in a much more populous county. The night ended with Powers at 52.75% and Englen at 47.25%, an 869-vote margin.

“It was a hard battle. I said early on he was a formidable opponent, and he proved to be so. And I’m thrilled to come away the winner … and I look forward to yet another race in November.”

Powers said he won’t have much time to rest, as he has to go back to Nashville on Monday.

“We’ve been called back into an unprecedented third session of the General Assembly, and we’ll be there for at least three days, and after that we have to get right back up and going on the campaign, taking the message to the people and making sure that people understand the things we want to put in place to move Montgomery County, Stewart County and Houston County forward.”

Powers, who previously served two terms on the Clarksville City Council, has been a managing partner of Wyatt-Johnson Automotive Group for over 30 years.

Englen says he’ll be back

Englen said they were outspent about 6 to 1, and in a condensed fundraising and campaign season. Considering that, he said he’s happy about the point margin.

“Me coming out of nowhere and going up against an incumbent who was born and raised here with a lot of money, I’m very happy with the numbers,” he said. “I’m very proud of District 22. We doubled the numbers of Republicans coming out to vote.”

Englen retired from the Army after 33 years of service as a Chief Warrant Officer 5. He served as the Senior Warrant Officer Advisor to the Secretary of the Army.

He said he made a lot of friends during the race, and he learned some important lessons, the biggest related to transitioning from the military to politics. “Coming from the military, you don’t speak about yourself,” Englen said. “It’s hard to talk about yourself, that’s one thing that I learned. There are ways to do that without coming straight forward and sounding egotistical.”

Asked if he plans to run for office again, Englen said, “I am not going anywhere. I am a true Republican, I’m a conservative, and I want to make sure that we keep that empowered here for this district.”

Powers initially won the Senate seat in a special election in April 2019 to finish the term of then-state Sen. Mark Green. Green resigned the seat after being elected to the US House in November 2018.

As the winner of the Republican primary, Powers will face Democrat Ronnie Glynn in the Nov. 3 election. Early voting begins Oct. 14.

MORE: Montgomery County election results

Casey Williams and Lee Erwin contributed to this report. 

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