Roe Declares Victory

But Davis Declines

To Concede Defeat

ByTOMYANCEY

StaffWriter

JOHNSONCITY--Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe apparently edged first-term incumbent U.S. Rep. David Davis, R-1st, also of Johnson City, in a tight, potentially historic race for the Republican congressional nomination on Thursday.

Roe was declared the winner at a rally late Thursday night by his campaign team and supporters who pronounced him "the next congressman."

Roe told supporters he would "try to serve you with dignity and honesty."

The Associated Press reported today that Roe had 25,916 unofficial votes, or 50 percent, while Davis had 25,416 votes, or 49 percent. Mahmood "Michael" Sabri had 325 votes, or 0.6 percent.

However, Rep. Davis, a one-term Congressman who previously represented Washington County for six years in the Tennessee House of Representatives, refused late Thursday night to concede.

Shortly after midnight, Davis told The Greeneville Sun in an interview that he thinks absentee ballots that remain uncounted -- especially ballots mailed by military personnel currently serving overseas -- could be enough to close the gap and give him a win.

Roe's camp tallied their candidate's margin of victory at 443 votes.

Davis said his own team put Roe ahead by "500 or 600 votes."

If Davis is unseated in the GOP primary, supporters said this will be the first time that has happened in this heavily Republican district since 1950.

The Republican candidate will face Democrat Robert "Rob" Russell, a teacher and administrator at East Tennessee State University, who resides in Kingsport.

Mahmood Sabri, an engineer who is a professor at Northeast State Technical Community College, ran a distant third in the three-man race with only 32 votes in Greene County.

Late Thursday night, Sabri said, "I would like to congratulate Dr. Roe for winning the primary. I want to thank all those who helped me during this campaign and voted for me. Your kindness is highly appreciated."

Davis traveled to Iraq last December with a congressional delegation, and met with some troops from the First District, and that visit was publicized.

Davis has said a childhood illness that gave him curvature of the spine also prevented him from serving in the military.

Roe, who during the campaign emphasized his own service as a U.S. Army doctor in South Korea in the 1970s, appeared unconcerned Thursday night when told by The Greeneville Sun that Davis was not conceding.

Other Roe supporters nearby, however, seemed surprised or shocked.

Roe, a retired physician, said he thinks any military votes yet to be counted are just as likely to help him as to help Davis.

"I would think being a veteran would help me. I'm a veteran of the infantry."

Roe said he believes that most military voters would consider his service a plus, if they know about it. "There's a bond there, everything else being equal," Roe said.

"If they don't know much about you, if you served in the military, chances are they're going to go with you," he added.

Tony DeVault, a former staffer for U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., advised the Roe campaign late Thursday night to contact election commissions across the district today, to learn how many absentee ballots that had been requested remain uncounted.

If the total remaining uncounted exceeds Roe's victory margin, DeVault and others said, then the question is still open. But if not, official results will show Roe the winner, as unofficial results already do.

Davis said he planned to meet today with his staff and "continue to serve the people of the First District" while deciding his next move.

"I feel blessed to be able to represent the people of East Tennessee," Davis said, adding, "Maybe things will start to come a little clearer tomorrow," meaning Friday.

Greene County Called Key

Greene County Commissioner Hilton Seay spent much of the summer introducing Roe around Greene County, and served as his campaign manager here.

Seay and his wife, Betty, traveled to Johnson City for Roe's celebration on Thursday night.

Roe recognized Seay from the platform, and noted that, although Davis carried Greene County, the congressman's margin was smaller than had been expected. The reduced margin was considered to be probably a major factor in Roe's apparent victory.

Davis's unofficial tally in Greene County was 2,500 votes, compared to 1,760 votes for Roe.

Seay said he had hoped that the Greene County vote for Roe would be better, and appeared apologetic even as he was thanked and praised.

Both candidates were surrounded by supporters after the polls closed Thursday evening.

Davis supporters were gathered at the Best Western motel on North Roan Street, while Roe's backers assembled at the former Bennigan's restaurant, barely a block away on the other side of Interstate 26.

Generators powered a stage that had been set up under a large tent outside Bennigans, which has been closed for several years.

Davis and his staff worked to tally votes in a meeting room at Best Western, while others listened to music in the main ballroom.

Greene County was represented at both events.

Circuit Judge John Wilson and his wife Nancy were joined by Billy McCamey, Davis' Greene County campaign manager, at the Davis event. Businessman C.M. Cobble and his son, Jeff Cobble, a Greeneville attorney, were also on hand at Davis' event.

David Hollowell, a Johnson City native who retired in June as assistant principal of Greeneville High School, supported Roe, whom he said he has come to respect from a number of contacts over the years.

Several other Greene Countians visited Roe's celebration during the evening.

Mood Swings

The mood in the Davis headquarters was cautiously optimistic when early voting totals district-wide put the incumbent congressman ahead 9,927 to 9,342. Much jubilation was evident when Davis carried Hamblen County 1,192 to 794.

As the margin began to close, Paul Chapman, Davis' chief of staff, remarked optimistically to his staff that "Greene County will pull us through" after early vote totals showed Davis about 200 votes ahead here.

State Sen. Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, spent the evening with a small radio attached to one ear and a cell phone near the other, and relayed information from a variety of sources. Crowe was Davis' co-chairman.

But as early returns from Washington County and Carter County continued to put Roe ahead, the mood at the Davis camp turned somber, and never really recovered.

Across the Interstate highway at the Roe gathering, which was primarily under a large tent, the mood was restrained early in the evening, as supporters followed the returns.

The Roe camp's mood turned from cautiously optimistic to jubilant as Roe carried Washington, Carter, Sevier and Cocke counties.

Tennessee Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey, a Republican state senator, traveled from his home in Blountville to congratulate Roe.

"David Davis is a good friend, and we served together in the legislature, but Phil Roe will make a great congressman," Ramsey said.

Ramsey said he looks forward to campaigning for Roe this fall.

Ethan Flynn, chairman of the Washington County Republican Party, also congratulated Roe.

Flynn said that, as a party official, he had to remain neutral until the primary was over.

But once victory was declared, at least by the candidate, Flynn said Roe's apparent win came after "a well-fought, hard-earned race. I'm looking forward to supporting Dr. Roe in the general election," Flynn said.

2006 Race Results

Davis, a health-care entrepreneur, received 22 percent of the vote in a 13-person primary contest in 2006. Roe finished fourth in that race.

A former respiratory therapist who built and sold a successful health-care business, Davis first ran for the congressional seat in 1996, entering the race before longtime Congressman James H. "Jimmy" Quillen announced he would not seek re-election.

Davis finished fourth in a field of 12 in the GOP primary that year, a coincidence that he said late Thursday he himself had noted before.

Roe practiced obstetrics in Johnson City for more than 30 years before retiring in January.

Roe campaigned at the Greene County Fair both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. On Wednesday, he drove a red pickup truck much like the one that former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson used while campaigning statewide.