Butch Vaughn and Stan Vaught joined incumbents Caleb Tidwell and Claire Maxwell Tuesday in winning Republican primaries for Rutherford County Board of Education seats.

The vote counts are unofficial until the Rutherford County Election Commission meets at 5 p.m. March 18 to certify the results.

Vaughn is a retired Rutherford County school principal who served at Central Middle, Blackman Middle and Oakland High. He won 2,153 votes, which is 72.69% of the count, to beat Chase Williams for a Zone 6 to succeed retiring board Chairwoman Shelia Bratton in a race without any Democrats or independents qualifying.

Vaughn advances to the Aug. 1 election unopposed from a qualifying Democrat or independents.

Williams had 801 votes, which is 27.04%.

Vaught is a real estate auctioneer and farmer from Milton community on the northeast side of the county. He captured the Zone 2 seat with 1,840 votes, which is 66.40% of the count, in seeking to replace retiring board member Coy Young. Vaught’s GOP opponent Nicholas Rourke had 923 votes, which is 33.31% of the votes.

The Aug. 1 election for Vaught includes competition from independents Robert Brooks and John Duncan.

Vaught has served as chairman of the county’s Public Building Authority and is a former elected member of the County Commission.

Tidwell won 2,548 votes, which is 64.54% of total, in winning the GOP primary for Zone 3 against Tim Holden, a former board member.

Holden had 1,390 votes, which is 35.21% of count.

Tidwell is an employee with Pinnacle Building Services. He advances to the Aug. 1 election against unopposed Democratic Party primary winner Tiffany Fee and independent Lorri Johnson.

Maxwell is running unopposed in 2024. She won 1,495 GOP votes, which is 98.61%, and faces no competition Aug. 1 in seeking a second four-year term. She serves as the board’s vice chairwoman and previously worked as a special education educational assistant at Riverdale High School.

Maxwell also has served on the county’s Juvenile Detention Center Board.

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

2024 Election dates

• March 5: Primary for U.S. President, Rutherford County property assessor and highway superintendent, and seats for the county and Murfreesboro school boards

• Aug. 1: election for county and Murfreesboro offices and primaries for state and federal offices

• Nov. 5: Election Day for president, and other offices for federal, state, Smyrna, La Vergne and Eagleville governments

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: GOP voters choose Vaughn, Vaught, Tidwell and Maxwell for school board