Weakley County, Tennessee’s election administrator is crying foul over moves made by a local lawmaker to reshuffle the county’s election commission.
Barbara Castleman is retiring at the end of the summer and claims recent actions taken by state Rep. Andy Holt were in service of installing a friend of his - Alex Britt - as her successor and originally didn't want the county commission interviewing other candidates.
Last month, Holt went before the state election commission and recommended that all three of the Republican party’s representatives on the Weakley County Election Commission - chair Wayne Chester, Kitty Soder and Dan B. Powell - be replaced.
Castleman says she called the state election commission to ask about Holt's maneuver.
“So I said, ‘I want to know. You tell me now. Is a state representative supposed to have anything to do with the electing of the administrator?’ and they said, ‘No, it’s the county election commission’.” Castleman said. "Of course, the representative has the power to appoint those commissioners, but he hasn’t done it in the past.”
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett's director of communications Adam Ghassemi says that Holt's recommendations to the state commission were within his power as a state representative.
Castleman said she is worried that Britt would not be able to be impartial to Holt in future elections.
"He can't do something to sway an election, as far as votes and machines and all that," Castleman said. "That's all checks and balances. But maybe just his help to other candidates who would be opposed to Mr. Holt. Maybe he would not, but I mean, if someone put you in a job and they worked their heart out and take election commissioners off to get you the job, he would be pretty well obligated to him."
Multiple attempts to reach Holt for comment this week have proved unsuccessful, but he did tell Paducah's WPSD-TV that Castleman was made county election administrator by the same process for which he is being "impugned." Castleman acknowledges that she wasn't interviewed for the job in 2010, but says the circumstances were different and a state representative wasn't trying to get her the job.
The Weakley County Election Commission will meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7 to elect a new chair and secretary. Castleman said they will also consider at least five applicants, including Britt, for her administrator position, which pays $60,000 a year. Castleman's retirement is effective at the end of August.
