2026 Scott County General Election
The 2026 Scott County General Election was held on Thursday, August 6, 2026. A primary was held on May 5, 2026. Scott County had 13,859 registered voters by the time of the election. Voter turnout was 45.1% — the lowest turnout on this election cycle in the modern era.
Dennis Jeffers, mayor of Huntsville, was successful in unseating incumbent Jerried Jeffers in the race for County Mayor. Brian Keeton won re-election as Sheriff of Scott County. Amanda Chambers Sexton won her race as County Clerk.
Seats At Stake
All county-wide offices were up for election in 2026, with the exception of Assessor of Property. Additionally, all 14 seats on County Commission were up for election, along with Board of Education seats in the 1st, 4th, 5th and 7th districts, and three seats on the Oneida Special School District Board of Education.
Up for election in 2026:
• County Mayor
• Sheriff
• Road Superintendent
• Trustee
• Circuit Court Clerk
• County Clerk
• Register of Deeds
• County Attorney
• County Commission Districts 1-7 (two per district)
• County School Board Districts 1, 4, 5 and 7
• Oneida Special School District School Board (three seats)
Candidates
Asterisk denotes incumbent.
COUNTY MAYOR
*Jerried Jeffers (I)
Trent W. Cross (I)
Dennis Jeffers (R)
Jennifer Shockley (I)
Dennis Jeffers won every precinct but Elgin, finishing with 3,457 votes (56.2%). Jerried Jeffers, the incumbent, won the Elgin precinct and finished with 1,501 votes (24.4%). Jennifer Shockley, president of Cumberland Clear, finished third, with 943 votes (15.3%). Former County Commissioner Trent Cross finished fourth, with 252 votes (4.1%).
SHERIFF
*Brian Keeton (R)
Dennis Chambers (I)
Kris Lewallen (I)
Ronnie Phillips (R)
Brian Keeton overwhelmingly won re-election to a second term as Sheriff, with 4,005 votes (65.8%). Dennis Chambers finished second with 1,178 votes (19.4%), while Kris Lewallen was third, with 900 votes (14.8%).
ROAD SUPERINTENDENT
*Kelvin King (R)
TRUSTEE
*Rena Erwin (I)
CIRCUIT COURT CLERK
*Donnie Phillips (R)
COUNTY CLERK
*Felicia Hamby Bilbrey (I)
Christina Kay Cross (I)
Amanda Chambers Sexton (R)
Amanda Chambers Sexton was successful in her challenger’s bid for County Clerk, with 3,243 votes (54%). Two-term incumbent Felicia Bilbrey finished second, with 2,572 votes (42.8%). Christina Kay Cross finished with 194 votes (3.2%).
REGISTER OF DEEDS
*Ashley Newport Riseden (R)
COUNTY ATTORNEY
*John Beaty (I)
COUNTY COMMISSION
Nine of 10 incumbents were re-elected to County Commission. David R. Jeffers, of the 1st District, was the only candidate who was unsuccessful in his re-election bid. Allen “Ladd” Phillips was successful in unseating Jeffers. Other newcomers to the commission included Michael Keeton and Dacy Williams in the 3rd District, Zack Strunk in the 5th District, and Jason Perry in the 6th District.
*David “Blue” Day, 1st District (I)
*David R. Jeffers, 1st District (R)
Elaine R. Lowe, 1st District (I)
Allen Phillips, 1st District (R)
*Joyce Potter Keeton, 2nd District (I)
*Taylor Buttram Stephens, 2nd District (R)
Adam King, 2nd District (R)
Michael Keeton, 3rd District (I)
Ronald C. Keeton, 3rd District (I)
Kenny Morrow, 3rd District (R)
Daniel W. Murley, 3rd District (I)
Dacy Williams, 3rd District (I)
*Kenny Chadwell, 4th District (I)
*Shonda Gray, 4th District (I)
*Kelly Posey-Chitwood, 5th District (R)
Zack Strunk, 5th District (I)
Ralph Trieschmann, 5th District (I)
*Colby Burke, 6th District (I)
Jason Perry, 6th District (R)
Torrey Slaven, 6th District (I)
*Jared Burke, 7th District (I)
*Thomas Payne, 7th District (I)
Kris Byrd, 7th District (I)
Anthony Carson, 7th District (I)
SCHOOL BOARD: DISTRICT 1
*Tommy Silcox (I)
Rhonda Marlow Davis (R)
Rhonda Marlow Davis, a retired educator, unseated Tommy Silcox in the 1st District school board race.
SCHOOL BOARD: DISTRICT 4
Kimberly Kidd (I)
SCHOOL BOARD: DISTRICT 5
*Angela Anderson King (I)
Roger Douglas (I)
SCHOOL BOARD: DISTRICT 7
*Tressa Murphy (I)
B. Matthew Stiltner (I)
SCHOOL BOARD: OSSD (3)
*Kevin Byrd (I)
*Mark Matthews (I)
Benji Jacobs (I)
Stuart Jones (R)
Stuart Jones won a seat being vacated by Dorothy Watson on the Oneida Special School District Board of Education.
The vote breakdown
Precinct-by-precint results as reported by the Independent Herald on Election Day:
Primary
A primary was held on May 5, 2026, with voter turnout of 28.4%, or 3,891 of 13,706. There were no Democrats on the primary ballot. The Republican ballot featured only one contested race, with incumbent Sheriff Brian Keeton and former Sheriff Ronnie Phillips seeking the Republican nomination. Keeton won the race, receiving 54.3% of the vote (2,055), while Phillips finished with 45.1% (1,707).
Other vote totals from the primary:
County Mayor – Dennis Jeffers: 2,873
County Commission –
1st District – David R. Jeffers: 305
1st District – Allen L. Phillips: 304
2nd District – Adam King: 179
2nd District – Taylor Buttram Stephens: 369
5th District – Kelly Posey-Chitwood: 349
6th District – Jason Perry: 299
Circuit Court Clerk – Donnie Phillips: 2,893
County Clerk – Amanda Chambers Sexton: 2,674
Register of Deeds – Ashley Newport Riseden: 2,933
Road Superintendent – Kelvin King: 2,372
School Board – 1st District – Rhonda Marlow Davis: 363
School Board – Oneida Special School District – Stuart Jones: 279
Early Voting
Early voting for the Aug. 6, 2026, election began July 16, 2026, and concluded Aug. 1, 2026. A total of 3,694 voters cast ballots during the early voting period — or approximately 26% of Scott County’s registered voters. It was the lowest early voting turnout in 28 years, dating back to the 1998 election. It also marked the second consecutive election with decreased early voting turnout since a record was set for early voting in 2018.
A total of 3,226 voters, or 87% of those who voted, also participated in the state primary. Of those, 92.9% requested Republican ballots and 7.1% requested Democratic ballots.
This Encyclopedia of Scott County entry is about a current event. Read the latest news on this issue and others at indherald.com.