NASHVILLE — Bob Tuke was leading in early primary returns Thursday for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander this fall.

With 46 percent of precincts reporting, the former state Democratic Party chairman had 25,630 votes, or 27 percent. Tuke’s most active opponent during the campaign, former Knox County Clerk Mike Padgett, was third with 19,373 votes, or 20 percent.

Neither Democrat has managed to drum up much campaign cash or public attention. Yet they both argue that Alexander, a former two-term governor, is out of touch with Tennesseans and ripe to be picked off.

Alexander was unopposed in the GOP primary. The Senate race is the only statewide race on the ballot.

The Democratic candidates have largely avoided direct attacks on each other during the primary campaign — a stark contrast to the raucous three-way Republican nomination fight in 2006.

Yet Peggy Roy, 69, said there was only one race that brought her out to vote on Thursday morning — the race to nominate Alexander’s Democratic challenger.

“I voted for Bob Tuke because I think he’s the best qualified to beat Lamar Alexander,” Roy said after voting in Nashville. “If anybody can beat an incumbent, it would be him.”

Alexander, who was elected to the Senate in 2002, has so far remained above the fray of the Democratic nomination fight this year. But that hasn’t stopped him from amassing $4.7 million in contributions by the end of the most recent reporting period.

All Democrats combined, meanwhile, raised less than a half million dollars for the entire campaign — not counting the $250,000 Nashville auto dealer and real estate investor Kenneth Eaton loaned to his long shot campaign.

Tuke focused his efforts on Memphis and Nashville. Early voter turnout has been heaviest in Shelby County because of a closely watched congressional primary between Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen and attorney Nikki Tinker.

But an unusual number of local races on the ballot in Knox County this year has also boosted turnout in Padgett’s home district where he held elected office for 23 years.

Retired businessman Glenn Weber, 70, of Knoxville, voted for unopposed Alexander in the GOP primary rather than Padgett in the contested Democratic primary. “(Padgett) could be a good senator, but I think I am going to go with somebody who’s proven he can do the job.”

The chances of a Democrat unseating Alexander are “probably slim,” said Wanda Snoddy, a 73-year-old Nashville retiree who voted for Tuke. “But I wanted to put my input in to give him a chance.”

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