Early voting begins today in the special election to fill the vacant 14th District Senate seat, representing Marshall County in the General Assembly.

Shane Reeves, who won the Republican primary against Joe Carr, and Democratic nominee Gayle Jordan vie for the position.

Gov. Bill Haslam called the special election to fill the seat vacated by Jim Tracy who served in the senate for 13 years before he accepted the nomination to become the director of rural development for Tennessee with the United States Department of Agriculture.

Votes can be cast, for the early voting period only, at the Marshall County Election Office in the Hardison Annex Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday hours are 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. and the office will be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon.

Chapel Hill United Methodist Church will host an early voting site on Friday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday, March 3, from 8 a.m. to noon.

Requests for absentee ballots must be received by the election office by March 6.

The early voting period closes on March 8 with the general election slated for Tuesday, March 13.

The district covers Marshall, Lincoln, Bedford, Moore, and part of Rutherford Counties.

The winner of the race will be seated in the legislature in the middle of the current session.

Fewer than seven percent of registered voters in Marshall County cast votes in the January primary election.

Reeves received 60 percent of the just over 1,000 votes cast in the party primary, while Jordan received 110 courtesy votes in Marshall County.