Answers to community questions
Ask, and you'll get a straight answer
Questions from neighbors, answered here as they come in. If yours isn't below, ask Whitt directly — he'd rather hear it from you than read about it later.
- What office is Whitt running for?
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Claiborne County Mayor. The election is Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
- What are Whitt’s priorities as mayor?
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Three of them. A county budget planned in decades rather than one fiscal year at a time. A leaner county government that costs taxpayers less. And straight answers for everybody, so the county stops pulling in different directions.
His stated goal number one is uniting Claiborne County while moving it forward.
- What has Whitt actually done on the County Commission?
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He has served eight years as First District County Commissioner, including as Chairman of the Finance Committee.
In that time he pushed the county toward long-range budget planning, won new fund balance guidelines that protect taxpayers in lean years, and sponsored the resolution to cut the county commission from 21 seats to 11. He has also championed keeping farmland taxes low.
When residents could not get answers about the South Claiborne data center, he pressed for them publicly until they did.
- Has Whitt ever run anything besides a government committee?
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He has run a century farm since 2009, when he took it over after his uncle passed away. The first years he worked it alone — mending fence, clearing fields, growing the herd.
He also owns and operates Whitt's Place, which began as meat sold from a cooler in the barn and now runs out of the renovated farmhouse. It sells beef raised on the farm alongside locally raised pork, chicken, lamb, bison, and a range of other local products.
He is a lifelong Claiborne Countian and a University of Tennessee graduate in Agricultural Economics.
- When and where do I vote?
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Early voting runs October 14 through 29 at the Claiborne County Election Commission office.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, when polls are open county-wide at your assigned precinct.
- How do I meet Whitt in person?
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Porch Sittin' with Whitt happens Tuesdays and Thursdays at Whitt's Place. No appointment and no agenda — come by, pull up a chair, and ask him whatever you came to ask.
If Tuesdays and Thursdays don't work, stop in at Whitt's Place any day it's open. He's usually there.
Didn't see your question?
Ask Whitt
Come to Porch Sittin' with Whitt
Tuesdays & Thursdays at Whitt's Place. This is the surest way to get an answer — and to get it in person.
Send it in writing
Email Whitt and he'll answer. Questions that come up more than once end up on this page.