Richard Venable

For the nineteenth-century Virginia politician, see Richard N. Venable.

Richard Venable (born October 2, 1944) is an American politician currently serving as Sullivan County Mayor. He was county mayor of Sullivan County, Tennessee and is a former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. While county mayor, he was chairman of the Sullivan County Board of Commissioners commonly called the County Commission. He lost his Republican Party nomination bid in first congressional district race to replace the retiring Bill Jenkins to David Davis.

At the end of the race, Venable waited two weeks on official election results to concede his loss. Unofficial results were inconsistent, varying from a margin of 512 votes to 576 votes, but the Davis win was confirmed by election officials.

Turnout was lower than expected in Venable's home county of Sullivan. In addition, voters faced wait times in excess of two hours in 90- degree weather. Some left before casting votes, citing physical disabilities or responsibilities to family or employer. A long ballot, including judgeship retention questions, and new voting machines, mandated to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements by the federal government in time for this election, may have caused voters to take more time at the voting booth. Among Venable supporters and campaigners, questions were repeatedly raised as to why more machines were not provided when, as the story goes, 80 remained unpacked, and why paper ballots were not issued in lieu of distributing unused machines. However, election officials said nowhere near 80 machines were unused. And media accounts in the Bristol Herald Courier and Kingsport Times-News, among others, indicated the long lines and snafus were statewide, although they were especially troublesome in Sullivan County and the 1st Congressional District because of the race for Congress.