Unless someone withdraws by noon Thursday, February 26, 2026, the Republican and Democratic primaries are set. Qualifying deadline was noon Thursday, February 19. Here are the candidates: Final_list_may
My takeaways:
Except for District 1 school board, the Democrats might as well stay home. Only incumbent John Butler has party opposition.
Catbird seats: Sherry Witt (register of deeds), Emily F. Abbott (Criminal Court judge); Mike Hammond (Criminal Court clerk); Charlie Susano (Circuit Court clerk). These folks have no opposition.
Fight, fight I: OK. Knox County mayor has four candidates ~Republicans: Kim Frazier, Betsy Henderson, Larsen Jay; Democrats: Beau Hawk.
Fight, fight II: Four Republicans (no Democrats) are running for sheriff: David Amburn, Mike Davis (married to state Rep. Elaine), Brent Gibson and former sheriff Jimmy “J.J.” Jones.
Fight, fight III: County clerk, a low-key job with usually a low-key race. This year, though, the open seat has drawn four widely-known Republicans and one Democrat. Richard “Richie” Beeler, former county commissioner and current chief deputy in the office, was expected to coast. But then John J. Duncan III, former trustee; Rodney Lane, veteran of many courthouse jobs; and John R. Whitehead, former property assessor, hopped into the race and it’s anybody’s guess who will win. The Democrat is Joey Tate.
Two other hot races: Trustee, where term-limited register of deeds Nick McBride and two others are challenging incumbent Justin Biggs; General Sessions judge Division IV, unexpired term, Republicans are incumbent Andrea Kline and county commissioner Rhonda Lee; Democratic candidate is attorney Ben H. Houston II.
The primaries are Tuesday, May 5, 2026 with early voting and all the usual options. Info at knoxvotes.org/. Voters must pick either the Republican or Democratic primary.
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Why would anybody suggest that the Democrats stay home for the primary vote. Your vote is important even if there is only one candidate to vote for in the primary race. Showing support for candidates is very important. TN is already one of the lowest voter turnout in the country. Every vote counts.
Linda: The Democratic Party is to be commended for finding ONE candidate for most of the offices. But with Republicans having such robust primaries, it is hard to see why anyone would vote in an election with just one candidate per job.
Sandra I am surprised you let your typing fingers overrule your brain. County Mayor v City Mayor impact on voters: the City stopped providing health benefits (was a city health department) turned it over to the county; was a jail in the police headquarters closed turned all detention over to the county; got out of schools ( 60% or more of any government services other than federal) turned it over to the county had burdened county taxpayers outside of city with 52 million in underfunded pension benefits and city got out of garbage collection contracted to private entities. By the way do business property get garbage collection for their city taxes. What does the city provide in services law enforcement in the city cost how much (after you deduct the money collected for red light cameras and city court) for a very small area compared to the cost of detention and enforcement in the county. The city does provide fire services at what cost compared to private service to homeowners in county. The biggest duty of County Mayor that the public rarely sees is the process of budget.
Honorable Judge Workman: Our point of disagreement seems to be the job itself. I don’t dispute that the county funds more local services than the city… It’s just that in the city, the mayor presides at council meetings; hires and supervises the chief of police, the law director, city HR and purchasing. County government’s structure is flat with the mayor handling the budget. The elected sheriff handles 1,000 or so employees and controls his budget once it’s passed by county commission. The sheriff has his own HR, communications and even purchasing department. Ditto for schools. The Board of Education manages its budget after it is passed by the commission. The county law director, property assessor and trustee are elected with free-standing operations. It’s a wonder we don’t elect the dog catcher. Would you rather be the city mayor or the county mayor? City mayor, every time.