The ½-cent sales tax increase proposed by Mayor Indya Kincannon was soundly defeated on November 4, 2025. Unofficial returns with all precincts reporting showed 9,546 votes for the tax and 15,284 against.
Five new members of Knoxville City Council are:
- Karyn Adams
- Nathan Honeycutt
- Doug Lloyd
- Matthew DeBardelaben
- Denzel Grant
They replace term-limited council members: Tommy Smith, Andrew Roberto, Seema Singh, Lauren Rider and Gwen McKenzie.
Doug Lloyd with Knox County Commission chair Gina Oster.
There were no surprises. The winners in each district were also the winners in the August 26 primary. With the state legislature forcing city residents to vote by district both times (rather than citywide in the general), this will surely be the case. Why would the same voters change so dramatically in two months?
Irony alert: The Republicans in Nashville pushed for this change; apparently in hopes of electing more Republicans on the city council. In Tuesday’s nonpartisan election, consensus is that four Democrats and one Republican (Lloyd) were elected.
Will Mayor Kincannon be able to work with this new council? Sure. I don’t see anyone coming in with the sole aim of disrupting the city administration. The mayor will lose two friends and allies – Lauren Rider and Gwen McKenzie – but she supported most of the winners. Most likely to challenge Kincannon are Denzel Grant and Doug Lloyd, but since they live at opposite ends of the political spectrum it’s hard to see on what issues they could agree.
