By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–By a vote of 4-1, the Henry County Board of Elections officially disqualified Catherine Herrera from running for Henry County Mayor. That leaves two candidates: Jonathan Lodge, who is running as an Independent and David Webb, who is running as a Republican.
The vote came at the end of a lengthy public hearing on the challenges to Herrera’s candidacy which had been filed by County Commissioners Marty Visser and Ralph Wiles and local minister Carlton Gerrell. The three argued in their formal challenges that Herrera did not meet residency requirements.
The hearing was the first-of-its-kind for Henry County and was held before the Elections Commission, Elections Administrator DeLaina Green and State of Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins (who appeared over Zoom).
The four voting for disqualification were Chairman Steven Goggans, Art Smith, Jim Poe and Bennie Akers. The lone no vote was given by Sylvia Humphreys. Green said after the hearing that the ballots for the August election have not yet been made up.
Each of the three issuing challenges to Herrera’s candidacy were given 10 minutes each to make their case and Herrera was given 30 minutes. Each was given the opportunity for rebuttal. Herrera’s witnesses included her mother and daughter, who testified that Herrera considers Henry County her home.
Gerrell, Visser and Wiles all said that Herrera has not adequately established Henry County as her permanent home over the past year as required by law; that she lives and works in the Nashville area, votes in Davidson County, and that her residence in Henry County is utilized as an AirBnB.
Gerrell said it’s important to uphold integrity of elections and said, “The enforcement of the law rests with this Commission.”
Visser said Herrera’s residence has to be fixed and that the documents (tax bills, electric bills, etc) that she has presented do not establish proof of residency in Henry County. “Her primary residence is the greater Nashville area,” he said.
Wiles said the county should be upholding the election laws. “She may have strong roots in Henry County obviously, but she does not have primary residence in Henry County.”
Herrera, he said, “clearly does not meet the one year timeline” for establishing residency in Henry County. “You can’t have two primary residences,” he said.
In her presentation, Herrera said she performed her due diligence before deciding to run and deciding whether she was qualified to run. “The crux of all this is have I been a resident since last year and I never felt like I gave (my residency) up.”
She has deep roots in Henry County and has always considered this her home, she said. In recent years, she has been a teacher and working at a non-profit in the Nashville area and can work from home, which has given her the freedom to live both in the Nashville area and in Henry County. “I travel throughout the state all the time”, she said, but said her Henry County address is on her driver’s license, her boat registration and her cars’ registrations.
She said in 2024, she qualified as a volunteer for the Henry County CASA program and has been dedicated to that and is present for the Henry County cases and families she volunteers for. “When I did that, I shifted my focus to here,” she said.
“Unfortunately, politics can be dirty and I have to stand up for myself and my integrity. The whole reason I wanted to be on the ballot is because I wanted to come back to Henry County and represent Henry County.” During her rebuttal, Herrera clarified that she meant, “I wanted to be here full-time”.
Herrera’s mother and daughter both testified that since she started working at her new job about a year and a half ago, she has been able to spend more time in Henry County with family. Her mother, Caroline Gore said, “She does treat Henry County as home.”
Herrera said in her rebuttal, “I acted in good faith. I called the state and got guidance and thought I did everything the right way.”
After hearing all the testimony, Goins pointed out, “We have an unfortunate decision to make”.
After discussion among the commission members, Poe made the motion to disqualify Herrera, with Smith seconding the motion.
Photo: Catherine Herrera makes her case at the Election Commission public hearing, with State Official Mark Goins on Zoom behind her and Court Stenographer Sharyn Heath at left. Shannon McFarlin photo.