2 out of 3 candidates in Tennessee race die before election — including the winner

The Republican race for property assessor in Unicoi County, Tennessee, took a sad turn on Tuesday, when the winner died before all the votes were counted. That wasn't the first tragedy to befall the contest, though — another candidate died last month of cancer.

Jim Buchanan, the chairman of the county's Republican party, told The Associated Press that the winner, Margaret Seward, is believed to have died from a massive heart attack, and leaves behind a husband and three children. In February, during early voting, the interim assessor of property, Wayne Peterson, died of cancer. Buchanan said the local GOP will determine who will make it to the ballot for the August general election. The only remaining candidate still alive, Alan "Rocky" McInturrff, received 34 percent of the vote, compared to Seward's 48 percent and Peterson's 17 percent.

Sarah Bailey, the county's election administrator, said the deaths were "horrible, coincidental tragedies," and said she has never spoken to anyone "who has ever experienced two candidates dying while running for the same office."

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