Candidates set for Knoxville council election
Primary elections held in Knoxville on Aug. 26, 2025, determined the candidates who will progress on to the city’s general election in November.
There will be five new faces on the city council in November as all of the present seat holders are term limited. In Knoxville, both mayors and city council members are limited to serving only two four-year terms.
Karyn Adams will face off against Becky Jones for the City Council District 1 seat after fending off challengers Lindsey Jaremko and Charles Van Morgan. Adams led the vote count with 914 followed by Jones with 331, Jaremko with 309, and Van Morgan with 59.
The seat was previously held by Knoxville Vice Mayor Tommy Smith.
Nathan Honeycutt earned 1,551 votes to Melody Watts 403 votes in the District 2 primary race. The pair will advance to the general election in November. The seat was previously held by Councilman Andrew Roberto.
Doug Lloyd and Frank Ramey defeated challengers Nicholas Ciparro and Ivan Harmon to advance to the general election for District 3. Lloyd led the vote count with 756 followed by Ramey with 571, Harmon with 2929, and Ciparro with 184. The seat was previously held by Councilwoman Seema Singh.
Matthew DeBardelaben will be joined by Jeff Talman in the general election for District 4, defeating challenger Jane George. DeBardelaben led the vote tally with 1,589 followed by Talman with 1,067 and George with 193. The seat was previously held by Councilwoman Lauren Rider.
In the District 6 race, Denzel Grant will face off against Stan Johnson after defeating challengers Charles Frazier, George Raudenbush and Lawrence Williams Jr. Grant led garnered 566 votes followed by Johnson with 488, Williams Jr. with 281, Frazier with 130, and Raudenbush with 94. The seat was previously held by Councilwoman Gwen McKenzie.
Additionally, this election was the first since 1969 where only voters in a specific district weigh in on that district’s representation in both primary and general elections.
While the council’s District 5 seat normally is elected alongside the at-large council seats, mayoral election, and municipal judge, that will change in 2029. Voters chose, in a previous election, to realign election dates so all of the district seats are elected together, and the mayoral, at-large, and judicial seats are elected together.