Editing Williamson County, Tennessee (section)

== Government and politics==
Unusually for an urban county, and particularly for one where over sixty percent of adult residents have a bachelor's degree, Williamson County is highly conservative. This is likely due to the county being 81% White in a Southern state. 

By contrast, neighboring [[Davidson County, Tennessee]], home to [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]], is a Democratic stronghold. Davidson county is only 54% White.

Since 1980, Republicans have won Williamson County with large majorities in presidential elections. In [[2020 United States Presidential Election|2020]], [[Joe Biden]] obtained the highest percentage for a Democratic candidate since [[1980 United States Presidential election|1980]], but this represented barely one-third of the vote. It is equally Republican downballot, with the only statewide Democratic candidate in the 21st century to receive 40% or more of the county's vote in any election being [[Phil Bredesen]] in his successful [[2002 Tennessee gubernatorial election|2002]] and [[2006 Tennessee gubernatorial election|2006]] bids for Governor, and his unsuccessful [[2018 United States Senate election in Tennessee|2018]] bid for United States Senator.<ref name=leip/>
{{PresHead|place=Williamson County, Tennessee|source=<ref name=leip>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 13, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|94,562|47,695|2,411|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|86,469|50,161|2,386|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|68,212|31,013|7,046|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|69,850|25,142|1,233|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|64,858|27,886|1,092|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|57,451|21,732|467|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|38,901|18,745|783|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|27,699|15,231|2,446|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|22,015|13,053|5,127|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|20,847|7,864|112|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|17,975|6,929|93|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|11,597|8,815|683|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|7,880|8,183|203|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|7,556|2,616|392|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|2,788|2,063|4,867|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|2,707|5,075|0|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|2,699|4,471|58|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|1,979|4,174|58|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|2,326|4,085|19|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|556|2,294|1,011|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|602|2,656|10|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|505|3,215|26|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|286|2,769|4|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|261|2,777|49|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|693|1,595|0|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|242|1,626|48|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|946|2,004|0|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|600|2,036|10|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|797|2,205|71|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|605|1,928|28|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|475|1,932|121|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|704|2,136|87|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|1,281|3,097|68|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|575|1,992|504|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1888|Democratic|1,491|2,358|158|Tennessee}}
{{PresRow|1884|Democratic|1,461|2,025|26|Tennessee}}
{{PresFoot|1880|Democratic|1,541|2,733|0|Tennessee}}
{{clear}}

Before 1964, Williamson County was a classic "Solid South" county. However, as seen in the table on county voting in presidential elections, from 1964 to 1972 the majority of voters shifted from the Democratic Party, which had long dominated county and state politics, to the Republican Party. Since the 1970s, Williamson County has been one of the most Republican suburban counties in the country. [[Jimmy Carter]] is the last Democrat to garner even 40 percent of the county's vote. As a measure of the county's Republican bent, it rejected [[Bill Clinton]] in 1992 and 1996 even with Tennessean [[Al Gore]] on the ticket as his running mate, and Gore only got 32 percent in his own run for president in 2000.<ref name=leip/>

The chief executive officer of Williamson County's government is the [[county executive|County Mayor]], who is popularly elected [[at-large]] to a four-year term. The mayor is responsible for the county's fiscal management and its day-to-day business. Rogers C. Anderson has been mayor since 2002.

The county mayor is assisted by directors of the Agricultural Exposition Park, Animal Control, Budget & Purchasing, Community Development, County Archives, Employee Benefits, Human Resources, Information Technology, Parks & Recreation, Emergency Management, Public Safety, Property Management, Risk Management, Solid Waste Management and WC-TV.<ref>[http://www.williamsoncounty-tn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10301 Williamson County Organizational Plan], Williamson County official website. Retrieved: November 20, 2013.</ref>

The mayor works closely with the 24-member Board of County Commissioners, two members popularly elected to four-year terms from each of the 12 voting districts of roughly equal populations. A chairman of the board is elected by the membership annually. The Board of Commissioners appoints the members of the Planning Commission, Highway Commission, Beer Board, Board of Zoning Appeals, Building Board of Adjustments, County Records Committee, Library Board and others.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Dist.
! Commissioner
! Dist.
! Commissioner
! Dist.
! Commissioner
|-
| 1
| Lisa Lenox
| 5
| Mary Smith
| 9
| Chas Morton
|-
| 1
| Ricky D. Jones
| 5
| Greg Sanford
| 9
| Matt Williams
|-
| 2
| Elizabeth C. "Betsy"  Hester
| 6
| Paul Webb
| 10
| Meghan Guffee
|-
| 2
| Judy Herbert
| 6
| Erin Nations
| 10
| David Landrum
|-
| 3
| Jennifer Mason
| 7
| Chris Richards
| 11
| Sean Aiello
|-
| 3
| Jeff Graves
| 7
| Tom Tunnicliffe
| 11
| Brian Beathard
|-
| 4
| Pete Stresser
| 8
| Barb Sturgeon
| 12
| Brian Clifford
|-
| 4
| Gregg Lawrence
| 8
| Drew Tores
| 12
| Steve Smith
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Office
! Office Holder
! Office
! Office Holder
|-
| County Mayor
| Rogers C. Anderson
| County Clerk
| Jeff Whidby
|-
| Property Assessor
| Brad Coleman
| Register of Deeds
| Sherry Anderson
|-
| Trustee
| Karen Paris
| Sheriff
| Jeff Hughes
|-
| Circuit Court Clerk
| Debbie Barrett
| Chancery Court Clerk
| Elaine Beeler
|-
| Juvenile Court Judge
| Sharon Guffee
| Juvenile Court Clerk
| Margaret Gurley Mahew<ref>https://www.tncourts.gov/courts/state-court-clerks/clerks/margaret-gurley-mahew</ref>
|-
| General Sessions Judge
| Denise Andre
| General Sessions Judge
| Tom Taylor
|-
| Highway Superintendent
| Eddie Hood
| Election Administrator
| Chad Gray
|-
|}

The county's Assessor of Property, County Clerk, Circuit Court Clerk, Juvenile Court Clerk, Register of Deeds, Sheriff, Trustee and two judges of the General Sessions Court are popularly elected to four-year terms. Other officials, including the Chancery Court Clerk, Election Administrator, and Highway Superintendent, are appointed for four-year terms. The latter two are appointed by the Election Commission and Highway Commission respectively, and the Chancery Court Clerk is appointed by the elected judges of Tennessee's 21st Judicial District.