The city of Knoxville will see sweeping leadership changes during the November election.
Early voting begins Wednesday, Oct. 18 and ends on Nov. 2 ahead of election day on Nov. 7. Even though the primaries limited voters specifically to candidates in their district, the general election allows everyone within Knoxville to vote for a candidate in each of the five district races.
This means voters will have an huge voice in shaping the city's future leadership, as five of the nine seats on city council are being voted on this election. The council members representing the first, second, third, fourth and sixth districts are all term-limited, and therefore cannot run for re-election.
This also means five seats will belong to first-time members following the general election.
Early voting sites are the same as in the primary:
- The City-County Building at 400 Main Street
- 1645 Downtown West Boulevard
- Love Kitchen at 2418 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue
- New Harvest Park at 4775 New Harvest Lane
- Cecil Webb Recreation Center at 923 Baker Avenue
For details on hours and days when the early-voting poll sites are open, or to peruse a sample ballot, visit https://knoxcounty.org/election/.
In order to inform Knoxville residents of the choices in the election, WBIR 10News and Fox 43 News at 6:30 anchor John Becker reached out to each of the candidates for roundtable interviews, starting with District 1.These interviews began in May before the primary election when a record-breaking 30 people signed up to run in the various districts.
Below are interviews with the final candidates in the order they placed in their district in the August primary, starting with District One.
Unsure which district you belong to? Find out on Knox County's Geographic Information System.
District One
Stephanie Welch
Website: www.Vote4Welch.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SWelch1st
Twitter: @SWelch1st
Rebecca Parr
Website: www.voterebeccaparr.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/voterebeccaparr/
District Two
Andrew Roberto
Website: http://AndrewJRoberto.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ElectRoberto
Wayne Christensen
Website: www.ChristensenForCityCouncil.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/VoteChristensen
Twitter: @WayneFor2nd
District Three
James Edward Corcoran
Website: www.CorcoranForCouncil.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JamesCorcoranForKnox
Seema Singh Perez
Website: www.VoteSeema.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Seema3rdDistrict
District Four
(Note: Amelia Parker and Harry Tindell tied in this district with 488 votes each during the Aug. 29 primary. State law required the the city to break the tie, which ended in a 9-0 vote to allow Tindell to move on over Parker. People can still vote for Parker as a certified write-in candidate, however, her name will not be listed on the ballot).
Lauren Rider
Website: www.VoteLaurenRider.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/VoteLaurenRider
Harry Tindell
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Harry.Tindell.35
Amelia Parker
District Six
Gwen McKenzie
Website: www.votegwenmckenzie.com
Jennifer Montgomery
Website: www.VoteJMO.com