Indya Kincannon (born March 30, 1971) is an American politician who serves as the 69th Mayor of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

since 2019. She won the 2019 mayoral election with more than 52% of the runoff vote over opponent Eddie Mannis. She is Knoxville's second female mayor, after her predecessor

Madeline Rogero Madeline Anne Rogero () (born July 26, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 68th mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, elected in 2011. She was the first woman to hold the office and the first woman to be elected mayor in any of the Big Fo ...

. Though elected in a nonpartisan municipal election, Kincannon is affiliated with the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Education and early career

Kincannon earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

. As an undergraduate, she studied Spanish colonial history during the spring of 1992 at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

. She then earned a master's degree in Public Affairs and Urban and Regional Planning from the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. She took teaching certification courses at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. In 2004, Kincannon was elected to the Knox County Board of Education representing District 2. She was elected as Chairperson for three consecutive years from 2008 until 2011, and served on the board until 2014.

Mayor of Knoxville

Elections

In the August 27, 2019, primary election for Mayor of Knoxville, Kincannon advanced with 29.13% of the vote. Business-owner Eddie Mannis received 36.64% of the vote and also advanced to the November regular election. Councilman Marshall Stair finished third with 26.98% of the vote. On November 5, 2019, Kincannon was elected mayor with 52.41% of votes cast. On November 16, 2022, Kincannon announced she was running for re-election in the 2023 Knoxville mayoral race.

Tenure

In April 2022, Kincannon announced the hire of new Knoxville police chief Paul Noel. Kincannon's secretive hiring process of the new police chief, employing an outside private search firm to avoid state open records laws, drew criticism, including from former longtime Knoxville mayor

Victor Ashe The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

. Kincannon's office argued that the process was done to protect candidates and their careers. The

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...

sued the city in July 2022 to reveal the hidden process, including applicants' names, demographics, and resumes, as well as schedules and documents from Police Chief Advisory Committee meetings. In December 2022, a judge ruled that the city of Knoxville could not block Knox News from asking officials questions under oath about how they conducted their search for a police chief.

References

External links

Mayor's Office page

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kincannon, Indya Women mayors of places in Tennessee Mayors of Knoxville, Tennessee Living people 1971 births American expatriates in Spain Tennessee Democrats 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians