FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — With all 25 precincts reporting, former Speaker of the House Glen Casada appears to have lost the Republican primary race for the Williamson County Clerk's office.
Casada — who had the FBI raid his house and offices in 2021 — fell behind by thousands of votes to current interim county clerk Jeff Whidby. Whidby took over the office after his grandmother, Elaine Anderson, retired after decades at the helm. Prior to his appointment to the position from the county commission, Whidby was chief deputy clerk from 2011-2021.
Whidby collected 12,860 votes, while Casada only earned 4,218 votes. Casada will retire from the legislature at the end of the year, meaning for the first time since the 90s, Casada won't hold public office in local government or the state legislature.
The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance voted in April to send their records on Casada to the Williamson County District Attorney. Regulators are also forwarding their findings on the Faith Family Freedom Fund. The political action committee was used to attack former Rep. Rick Tillis, R-Lewisburg, during his primary against challenger Todd Warner, who took his seat in the legislature. He denied involvement in front of the registry.
The Williamson County Republican was forced to resign his position as House speaker in August 2019 after multiple NewsChannel 5 Investigates stories uncovered racist and sexually explicit text messages between him and his chief of staff. Casada has also served as House majority leader, at which time he and other lawmakers expelled former lawmaker and his former ally Jeremy Durham from the house.
Whidby will move on to the general election in August, where he will face Democratic challenger Deborah Campbell Sparks.
