Sunday's Internet Edition, September 07, 2008.

Teresa Monk submitted a petition with enough signatures to be included on the ballot as an independent candidate.

Roane County Clerk Charlie White officially certified Monk as a candidate last week.

“She’s done what she needed to do to be on the ballot,” White said.

White said candidates seeking to run as an independent had to submit a petition with signatures of registered voters equal to 2 percent of the number who voted for the same office in the last election.

Monk turned in her petition May 12, the day before the primary election, which was the last day for petitions to be submitted.

The petition contained 124 signatures, well above the 100 names she needed. But after each name was checked by the county clerk’s office, only 101 of those were on the active voter rolls.

“She ended up with one extra,” White said. “But that was enough.”

In 2004, a total of 4,968 voters cast a ballot in the prosecutor’s race, including 3,824 for incumbent Mark Sergent, whose name was the only one to appear on the ballot. Monk ran a last-minute write-in campaign and garnered 1,144 votes.

Monk ran as a Republican that time. This time she will be a small “I” independent, also known as a no party choice, which is not to be confused with the official Independent Party.

In last week’s primary, Sergent ran unopposed on the Democrat side, while Josh Downey was the only candidate for the office on the Republican ticket.

Monk, who lives at Walton, heads up the public defender’s office that serves Roane and Calhoun counties.

There will also be another new name from the same office on the general election ballot.

Rocky Holmes of Ravenswood, a Democrat, was selected to challenge incumbent State Senator Karen Facemyer, a Republican from Ripley, as she seeks a third consecutive term from the 4th Senatorial District that includes all of Jackson, Mason and Putnam and part of Roane County.

Democrat committee members from the four counties selected Holmes, also an attorney in the public defender’s office, after no Democrat candidate filed for the senate seat.

White said he also expects two excess levy renewals to be on the general election ballot.

The emergency services and library levy and another levy that supports the senior citizens “meals on wheels” program will expire June 30, White said, which means November will be the last time they can be put up for renewal at a regular election, without the expense of a special election.

White said the Roane County Commission would have until sometime in August to make the final determination regarding any levy issues to go on the November ballot.