UPDATE 9 p.m.
Lee Tramel has conceded in the Knox County sheriff's race.
Early voting numbers show Lee Tramel down 65 percent to 35 percent.
Lee Tramel currently holds the position of chief deputy in the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
His opponent is Tom Spangler, a former Knox County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy who most recently served as training director for the Blount County Sheriff’s Office. Spangler says he resigned that job in 2016 to focus on his campaign.
ORIGINAL STORY:
The Sheriff’s race is one of the most high-profile and competitive races in Knox County.
MORE: ELECTION RESULTS
Lee Tramel currently holds the position of chief deputy in the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. He hopes voters will choose to give him a promotion come election day.
His opponent is Tom Spangler, a former Knox County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy who most recently served as training director for the Blount County Sheriff’s Office. Spangler says he resigned that job in 2016 to focus on his campaign.
The Republican primary election very likely will decide Knox County’s next sheriff. There is no Democrat running for the position.
Whichever candidate wins will take office in September.
Both Spangler and Tramel have longtime experience in the Knox County Sheriff’s Office and in law enforcement, but each come from different backgrounds. Tramel has spent his time serving on the administrative side of the sheriff’s office. Spangler climbed the ranks from working in the jail to become chief deputy under two sheriffs.
“You go back and start at the very bottom and you know how the men and women operate. You work your way through the ranks and you understand what people go through,” Spangler said in February on WBIR’s Inside Tennessee. “Whenever you start dealing with everything outside of what law enforcement is, that makes you understand things even better.”
Tramel says he is running for sheriff because he believes he has the most pertinent experience needed for the job and better understands the community.
“I am running for sheriff because I believe that our community, where we have been, to where we are, to where we need to be, I really believe I have a good vision of where that is,” Tramel said on Inside Tennessee. “We’ve done a lot of work in the sheriff’s office dealing with the mentally ill and drug addicted in our community. We’ve seen a rise in the opioid epidemic and I don’t really believe there is anyone else running who better understands where we’re at with those problems in our community.”
Among the challenges facing whichever candidate wins are opioids, guns and mental health.
“People from all over this country, not just the state, but all over this country, are looking at Knox County to see how we are dealing with these issues in our community,” Tramel said. “We’re not finished yet. Our overdose deaths are still rising, there is still work to be done and I believe I can get this work done.”
Tramel says fighting the opioid epidemic would be his top priority. He points to the Sheriff’s Office Retail Theft Unit as an example of fighting the epidemic by focusing on crime prevention.
“Crime in our area is driving this epidemic,” he said. “It is a perpetual circle.”
Spangler also agrees the opioid epidemic is a major problem that must be solved, but says it will not be his number one priority.
“My priority is to make sure we stay safe in our homes, in our communities,” Spangler said. “We will deal with the opioid epidemic. It is a very serious issue that we have to address. My number one concern as law enforcement is people want to know about their safety. People want to know they are going to be safe in their home.”
As shootings at schools and in public places continue to happen, both candidates say things must change when it comes to gun ownership.
“We have to start a database for the mentally ill,” Tramel said. “When you have had mental issues, you should not be able to get ahold of a weapon until you have been cleared by a physician. We have to start expanding those background checks to include the mentally ill.”
Tramel does not think weapons bans are effective to stop crime.
“The only way you stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Tramel said. “We’ve seen time and again people with carry permits doing brave things to save lives.”
Spangler also wants to focus on the laws currently in place before supporting any further gun restrictions.
“We have to enforce the laws that are there now,” Spangler said. “It’s not the gun itself that is out here killing people. It’s just like a car.”
Both say they would commit more officers to patrol schools, emphasizing the need for school safety.
Spangler would not support arming teachers, arguing there is no way they could be sufficiently well trained.
“I don’t agree with putting weapons in teachers’ hands,” Spangler said. “All of your fine motor skills go out the window, you start getting tunnel vision. I just don’t want them to have that burden.”
Tramel would only support arming teachers if they had more training than just a carry permit.
“You’re going to have to do something more than a carry permit,” Tramel said. “Just because you get a carry permit does not mean that you are proficient with a firearm.”