# 2022 Knox County, Tennessee mayoral election

The 2022 Knox County mayoral election was held on August 4, 2022, to determine the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. The election was held concurrently with primary elections for various state offices, including the gubernatorial primaries. Incumbent Republican mayor Glenn Jacobs won re-election with 55.3% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Debbie Helsley.
As mayor, Jacobs branded himself as a libertarian and opposed COVID-19 restrictions like mask mandates.
Jacobs massively underperformed compared to his win in 2018, underperforming the most in the city of Knoxville. Voter turnout was extremely low, with only 18.1% of registered voters turning out. Jacob's massive underperformance and the lower voter turnout is mainly due to the fact that Republican Governor Bill Lee ran unopposed in his primary election and his Democratic challenger had a competitive primary. In 2018, local races saw higher voter turnout because all of the primary elections were contested that year.
Elections in Tennessee :
Federal government
U.S. President
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U.S. Senate
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U.S. House
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Special elections
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House
At-large
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State government
State elections
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Gubernatorial elections
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State Senate elections
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House of Representatives elections
2006
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2024 :
Ballot measures
2006
Amendment 1
2014
Amendment 1
2022
Amendment 1
Amendment 3
Nashville measures
Nashville Charter Amendment 1
Let's Move Nashville :
Local elections
Hamilton County mayoral elections
2018
2022
Chattanooga mayoral elections
2013
2017
2021
2025
Knox County mayoral elections
2010
2014
2018
2022
Knoxville mayoral elections
1983
1987
1991
1995
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2003
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023
Shelby County mayoral elections
2010
2014
2018
2022
Memphis mayoral elections
2011
2015
2019
2023
Clarksville Mayoral elections
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
Jackson Mayoral elections
2015
2019
2023
Murfreesboro Mayoral elections
2014
2018
2022
Nashville Mayoral elections
2007
2011
2015
2018 (sp)
2019
2023 :
Government :
vte :

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* Glenn Jacobs, incumbent mayor and professional wrestler better known as 'Kane'
Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Glenn Jacobs (incumbent) | 24,687 | 100.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 24,687 | 100.00% |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

Nominee
* Debbie Helsley, communications worker, and labor union leader
Eliminated in primary
* Bob Fischer, retired delivery driver and activist
* Tyler Givens, engineer and contractor
Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Debbie Helsley | 5,921 | 74.20% |
| | Democratic | Tyler Givens | 1,397 | 17.51% |
| | Democratic | Bob Fischer | 662 | 8.30% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 7,980 | 100.00% |

## General election

General election results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Glenn Jacobs | 30,306 | 55.28% |
| | Democratic | Debbie Helsley | 24,520 | 44.72% |
| | Write-in | Tracy A. Clough (write-in) | 1 | 0.00% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 54,827 | 100.00% |