2022 Knox County, Tennessee mayoral election

{{Short description|Mayoral Election of Knox County}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{Infobox election

| election_date = August 4, 2022

| election_name = 2022 Knox County mayoral election

| flag_image = File:Flag of Knox County, Tennessee.svg

| party1 = Republican Party (United States)

| image1 = File:Glenn Jacobs (51370093311) (cropped).jpg

| candidate1 = Glenn Jacobs

| candidate2 = Debbie Helsley

| party2 = Democratic Party (United States)

| type = presidential

| percentage1 = 55.28%

| popular_vote1 = 30,306

| popular_vote2 = 24,520

| percentage2 = 44.72%

| image2 = File:Debbie Helsley (3).png

| after_election = Glenn Jacobs

| before_election = Glenn Jacobs

| title = Mayor

| posttitle = Elected Mayor

| before_party = Republican Party (United States)

| after_party = Republican Party (United States)

| map_image = {{switcher |250px|Precinct results |250px|State House district results}}

| map_size = 250px

| map_caption = Jacobs: {{legend0|#E27F7F|50–60%}} {{legend0|#d75d5d|60–70%}} {{legend0|#D72F30|70–80%}} {{legend0|#C21B18|80–90%}}
Helsley: {{legend0|#7996e2|50–60%}} {{legend0|#6674de|60–70%}} {{legend0|#584cde|70–80%}} {{legend0|#3933e5|80–90%}} {{legend0|#0D0596|>90%}}
{{legend0|#808080|No data}}

| previous_year = 2018

| next_year = 2026

| turnout = 18.07% {{decrease}}{{Cite news |date=August 4, 2022 |title=Tennessee Voter Turnout, August 2022 |work=Tennessee Secretary of State |url=https://sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com/s3fs-public/document/2022_August_Turnout.pdf |access-date=August 28, 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}

8.24 pp

}}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.{{Cite web |last=Gans |first=Jared |date=2022-08-05 |title=Former WWE star Glenn ‘Kane’ Jacobs wins second term as mayor in Tennessee county |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3589540-former-wwe-star-glenn-kane-jacobs-wins-second-term-as-mayor-in-tennessee-county/ |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-04 |title=Voter turnout is lower than it was 4 years ago in Knox County, but people are still voting |url=https://www.wbir.com/article/news/politics/elections/voter-turnout-election-day-2022/51-d0600ab5-0a8f-4a83-94db-b13599c2b987 |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=wbir.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2022-08-03 |title=Unofficial Election Results: Knox Co. Mayor Glenn Jacobs reelected; some races see close wins |url=https://www.wbir.com/article/news/politics/election-day-2022-local-races-to-watch/51-77e4aa6a-5f3f-4981-a150-dd201e66a09a |access-date=2024-05-07 |website=wbir.com |language=en-US}} In 2018, local races saw higher voter turnout because all of the primary elections were contested that year.{{ElectionsTN}}