Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
are held every four years to elect the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee.
All Knoxville municipal elections are required to be
non-partisan
Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias.
While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...
, but candidates can be affiliated with a political party. Knoxville uses a
two-round system
The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
, where election runoffs are held if no candidate obtains the majority of the vote.
1983
The 1983 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 27, 1983, to elect the next
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. It saw the election of former Republican Mayor
Kyle Testerman
Kyle Copenhaver Testerman (December 27, 1934 – April 11, 2015) was mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1972 to 1975, and again from 1984 to 1987. Testerman was a Republican. He was the father of professional tennis player Ben Testerman.
First ...
.
1987
The 1987 Knoxville mayoral election took place on November 3, 1987, to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections and was officially nonpartisan. It saw the election of
Victor Ashe
Victor Henderson Ashe II (born January 1, 1945) is an American former diplomat and politician who served as United States Ambassador to Poland. From 1987 to 2004, he was mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. Ashe is a Republican. Ambassador Ashe conclu ...
.
Since no candidate secured a majority in the first round, a
runoff election
The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
was held between the top two finishers, with Ashe defeating former mayor
Randy Tyree
Randell "Randy" Tyree (born 1940) is a Tennessee politician who served as mayor of Knoxville from 1976 to 1983 and was the Democratic candidate for Governor in 1982.
Biography
Tyree was born in Carthage, Tennessee, in 1940. He received a bachel ...
.
Results
First round
Runoff
1991
The 1991 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 24, 1991, to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. It saw the re-election of Republican Mayor
Victor Ashe
Victor Henderson Ashe II (born January 1, 1945) is an American former diplomat and politician who served as United States Ambassador to Poland. From 1987 to 2004, he was mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. Ashe is a Republican. Ambassador Ashe conclu ...
.
1995
The 1995 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 26, 1995, to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. It saw the re-election of Republican Mayor
Victor Ashe
Victor Henderson Ashe II (born January 1, 1945) is an American former diplomat and politician who served as United States Ambassador to Poland. From 1987 to 2004, he was mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. Ashe is a Republican. Ambassador Ashe conclu ...
.
1999
The 1999 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 29, 1999, to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. It saw the re-election of Republican Mayor
Victor Ashe
Victor Henderson Ashe II (born January 1, 1945) is an American former diplomat and politician who served as United States Ambassador to Poland. From 1987 to 2004, he was mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. Ashe is a Republican. Ambassador Ashe conclu ...
Randy Tyree
Randell "Randy" Tyree (born 1940) is a Tennessee politician who served as mayor of Knoxville from 1976 to 1983 and was the Democratic candidate for Governor in 1982.
Biography
Tyree was born in Carthage, Tennessee, in 1940. He received a bachel ...
.
2003
The 2003 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 30, 2003, to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. Republican candidate
Bill Haslam
William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...
Madeline Rogero
Madeline Anne Rogero () (born July 26, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 68th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, elected in 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office. Before entering politics, Rogero worked as a community devel ...
with 52.6% of the vote.
Haslam reached a majority in the initial round of the election, forgoing the need for a runoff to be held.
Results
2007
The 2007 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 25, 2007 to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections; it was officially nonpartisan. It saw the re-election of incumbent Republican
Bill Haslam
William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...
.
Haslam reached a majority in the initial round of the election, forgoing the need for a runoff to be held.
Results
2011
The 2011 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 27 and November 8, 2011, to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections and was officially nonpartisan. It saw the election of Democratic candidate
Madeline Rogero
Madeline Anne Rogero () (born July 26, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 68th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, elected in 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office. Before entering politics, Rogero worked as a community devel ...
.
Serving as acting mayor, following the resignation of Republican mayor
Bill Haslam
William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...
to serve as
Governor of Tennessee
The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...
and in the months before the individual elected in this race would take office, was Daniel Brown, who did not seek a full term as mayor.
Since no candidate secured a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two finishers.
The election saw Rogero become the first woman elected mayor of Knoxville. She is also the first woman to be elected mayor in any of the "Big Four" cities of Tennessee (
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Mem ...
,
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, Knoxville, and
Chattanooga
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
).
Results
First round
Runoff
2015
The 2015 Knoxville mayoral election took place on September 29, 2015 to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. Incumbent Democratic Mayor
Madeline Rogero
Madeline Anne Rogero () (born July 26, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 68th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, elected in 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office. Before entering politics, Rogero worked as a community devel ...
won re-election with 98.8% of the vote.
Since Rogero reached a majority in the initial round of the election, no runoff was held. This was set to be the case since only two candidates were on the ballot.
Results
2019
The 2019 Knoxville mayoral Election took place on August 27, 2019, and November 5, 2019, to elect the next mayor of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. All Knoxville municipal elections are non-partisan.
Since no candidate met 50% or more of the votes, Republican candidate
Eddie Mannis
Eddie Mannis (born April 14, 1959) is an American former politician, who was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 2020-2022.Democratic candidate
Indya Kincannon
Indya Kincannon (born March 30, 1971) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 69th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. She won the 2019 mayoral election with more than 52% of the runoff vote over Eddie Mannis. She is Knoxville's second fe ...
advanced to the November election. Indya Kincannon won the runoff election with 52.4% of the vote.
Incumbent Democratic Mayor
Madeline Rogero
Madeline Anne Rogero () (born July 26, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 68th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, elected in 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office. Before entering politics, Rogero worked as a community devel ...
was ineligible to run for re-election, having served the maximum of two terms.
Candidates
Declared
* Michael Andrews, licensed
barber
A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...
* Fletcher Burkhardt,
social media
Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...
specialist
*
Indya Kincannon
Indya Kincannon (born March 30, 1971) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 69th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. She won the 2019 mayoral election with more than 52% of the runoff vote over Eddie Mannis. She is Knoxville's second fe ...
, former Knox County School Board member (2004–2014), former chair of the Knox County School Board, former city director for Mayor Rogero
*
Eddie Mannis
Eddie Mannis (born April 14, 1959) is an American former politician, who was a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 2020-2022.COO and deputy to Mayor Rogero, chairman of the Metropolitan Airport Authority, prominent businessman
* Calvin Taylor Skinner, worked in community and leadership development
* Marshall Stair, lawyer, at-large member of the Knoxville City Council (2011–2019)
Results
First round
Runoff
In the runoff election, Indya Kincannon defeated Eddie Mannis.
2023
The 2023 Knoxville mayoral election took place on August 29, 2023 to elect the
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The election was held concurrently with various other local elections. All Knoxville municipal elections are non-partisan. Since Kincannon won a majority of the vote in the initial round, no runoff was needed. Incumbent Democratic Mayor
Indya Kincannon
Indya Kincannon (born March 30, 1971) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 69th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. She won the 2019 mayoral election with more than 52% of the runoff vote over Eddie Mannis. She is Knoxville's second fe ...
was elected with 57.5% of the vote, defeating Republican Candidate Jeff Talman.
Indya Kincannon
Indya Kincannon (born March 30, 1971) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 69th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. She won the 2019 mayoral election with more than 52% of the runoff vote over Eddie Mannis. She is Knoxville's second fe ...
announced her re-election campaign on November 16, 2022. She was sworn in on December 16, 2023.
Candidates
Declared
*
Indya Kincannon
Indya Kincannon (born March 30, 1971) is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 69th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. She won the 2019 mayoral election with more than 52% of the runoff vote over Eddie Mannis. She is Knoxville's second fe ...
, incumbent mayor
* Jeff Talman, mortgage banker and president of the Knoxville Volunteer Rotary Club
* Constance Every, nonprofit founder
* R.C. Lawhorn, businessman
Results
See also
*
Elections in Tennessee
Elections in Tennessee are held to fill various local, state, and federal seats. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Statewide legislative referrals and referendums may also be on the ballot in some elections ...
*
Political party strength in Tennessee
Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party. Republicans currently hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats, a majority of Congressional seats, and the state legislature. Democratic strength is largely concentrated in ...
*
Government of Tennessee
The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796. As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of governme ...
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...