CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – In a race that took a harsh turn between the top two candidates, with negative attack ads filling mailboxes in District 68, Aron Maberry defeated Joe Smith to become the Republican candidate in the state House race. The other two candidates were Carol Duffin and Greg Gilman.
“This has definitely been the hardest primary race in the history of District 68,” Maberry told Clarksville Now. “We’ve all felt the weight of it, and we’re just excited that District 68 decided to vote and put confidence in me to lead in Rep. Curtis Johnson’s shoes.”
Maberry had 43% of the vote with 2,568 while Smith had 37% with 2,210. That’s a difference of only 358 votes. Duffin had 726 votes and Gilman 422. Maberry will face Democrat Garfield Scott in the General Election on Nov. 5. Scott was unopposed in the Democratic Primary.
Maberry said the race likely came down to supporting school choice, which was a platform that led him to be endorsed by Gov. Bill Lee. “I’m definitely a candidate that supports school choice, and that’s definitely gonna probably the biggest distinction in this race.”
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On school choice, he said, “Parents should be in the driver’s seat of their kid’s education, and I’m gonna work hard for the people of Montgomery County and Tennessee right away to be able to have access, to make this happen.”
But he cited other issues as well. “I really want to see our infrastructure improved, I want to see the certificate of need law repealed so we can get more hospitals here in Montgomery County, and that’s something that also separates me from others that were in this race as well.”
Smith: ‘I hope they’re ready’
Smith told Clarksville Now he was surprised by the results. “I thought the final eight precincts would be some of our strongest, but you know apparently money buys an election now. That’s unfortunate for Montgomery County, because the money that came into this race was not from Montgomery County.”
Several national school voucher advocacy groups – including American Federation for Children, Americans for Prosperity, and the School Freedom Fund – have spent money supporting candidates across Tennessee in this primary.
“We were out-funded by out-of-state interests,” Smith said. “Our team actually out-fundraised every other opponent, so that tells you the money that came in from outside of the state influenced this election.”
Smith said the fight isn’t over, and he plans to run for the seat again in two years. “And I plan to bring the hammer with me because we learned our lesson on this money issue. So, I hope they’re ready.”
Meanwhile, he will continue his work as a Montgomery County commissioner “and doing my job on my committees like I’m dedicated to already for (county) District 3 and for the entire county to keep moving infrastructure projects forward with our highway supervisor and keep all of our departments a little bit better and serving our community.”
Duffin said she was disappointed. “It’s not the results we had hoped for, but I worked hard.” She said she doesn’t plan to run again.
“I appreciate all the people who came out and voted and supported me and volunteered for my campaign,” Duffin said.
Gilman said he had a good time running for office. “It doesn’t matter who wins, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best candidate for the job, it just means they had the greatest voter turnout, and unfortunately based on early voting, it’s very low this year.”
Asked if he planned to run again, Gilman said, “No, this is it for me. I’ll be on the front porch. One trick pony.”
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About the candidates
Duffin has been a resident of Clarksville for 25 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in business from Marymount University. She began her professional career in Washington, D.C., as a senior sales executive for a Fortune 500 company and collaborated with several military and government institutions. She’s the former co-chair of the Montgomery County Republican Party.
Gilman moved here in 1987 after being assigned to Fort Campbell as a 101st Airborne Division aviator. He is an instructor pilot for the military and has been flying for over 42 years. He has a master’s degree in safety. He currently serves as director of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Reserves and has been a reserve deputy for over 10 years.
Maberry is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County and is the first elected Republican on the Clarksville-Montgomery County School Board. After graduating from Rossview High School, he attended Bible College in Columbus, Ohio, where he worked on the Bush campaign. Since graduating college in 2007, he has served as a pastor, since 2015 on the staff at Mosaic Church.
Smith was first elected to the Montgomery County Commission in 2018 and was recently appointed mayor pro tem. He grew up on a tobacco farm in Sango. After graduating from Clarksville High School in 2002, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. Smith previously worked for Clarksville Fire Rescue and is now the owner and operator of Jodi’s Cabinet Sales.
Christian Brown, Jeff Matthews, Ricky Birchfield, Lily Russell and Chris Smith contributed to this report.
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