Knoxville, Tennessee is the third-largest city in the state and is steeped in history of politics. It has a vibrant political atmosphere with many leaders advocating for their constituents’ rights within local government. As the home to several universities, Knoxville is a center of intellectual thought and diverse viewpoints. The mayor of Knoxville since 2011 has been Madeline Rogero, who was reelected to serve for a third consecutive term in 2019. Within the City Council, there are nine members elected by district to represent different parts of the city. Through their leadership and oversight, along with Mayor Rogero, they strive to make sure that all ideas and perspectives are heard when it comes to making decisions about policy and other matters that affect citizens living in Knoxville.
The political climate in Knoxville, TN is leaning conservative.
Knox County, TN is somewhat conservative. In Knox County, TN 41.5% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 56.5% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 2.1% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Knox county remained very strongly Republican, 56.5% to 41.5%.
Knox county voted Republican in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Knoxville, TN is leaning conservative.
Knox County, Tennessee is somewhat conservative.
Knoxville Metro Area is strongly conservative.
Tennessee is moderately conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Knoxville, Tennessee: R R R R R R
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D if the Democratic Party candidate won and I if the Independent Party candidate won. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Knoxville, TN
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 54,988 contributions totaling $6,014,377 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $109 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 15,742 contributions totaling $16,936,711 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $1,076 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)