Mayoral Elections In Chattanooga, Tennessee
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Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
are held every four years to elect the
mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee This is a list of mayors of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tim Kelly has been the incumbent mayor of Chattanooga since his inauguration on April 19, 2021 at the Tivoli Theatre. City aldermen system (1840-1911) City commission system (1911-1990) ...
. All Chattanooga municipal elections are required to be
non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...
, but most candidates can be affiliated with political parties.


2001


Endorsements


Results


2005

The 2005 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 1, 2005, and on April 12, 2005 (as a run-off), to elect the
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. Incumbent Republican mayor
Bob Corker Robert Phillips Corker Jr. (born August 24, 1952) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Chair of the Senate Foreign Rela ...
was eligible to run for a second term, but decided to run for U.S. Senate instead. Ann Coulter won a plurality of the vote in the first round with 42.31%, but lost the run-off election to
Ron Littlefield Ronald C. Littlefield (born 1946) is an American politician and the former mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was elected via a run-off election in 2005 after a long term as a city councilman. He was reelected in 2009. He is the former executi ...
, who earned 54.11% of the vote.


Results


General


Run-off


2009

The 2009 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 3, 2009, to elect the next
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. Incumbent
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
Mayor
Ron Littlefield Ronald C. Littlefield (born 1946) is an American politician and the former mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was elected via a run-off election in 2005 after a long term as a city councilman. He was reelected in 2009. He is the former executi ...
ran for re-election and was re-elected with 57.13% of the vote.


Candidates

*Rob Healy, Chattanooga Parks and Recreation administrator *Joe Lance, blogger (withdrew, endorsed Healy) *
Ron Littlefield Ronald C. Littlefield (born 1946) is an American politician and the former mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was elected via a run-off election in 2005 after a long term as a city councilman. He was reelected in 2009. He is the former executi ...
, incumbent mayor *Thomas Smith II, perennial candidate


Results


2013

The 2013 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 5, 2013, to elect the next
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. Incumbent
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
Mayor
Ron Littlefield Ronald C. Littlefield (born 1946) is an American politician and the former mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was elected via a run-off election in 2005 after a long term as a city councilman. He was reelected in 2009. He is the former executi ...
was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. Democratic candidate
Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...
was elected with 72.3% of the vote, defeating Guy Satterfield.


Candidates

*
Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...
, former member of the
Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...
from
district 10 District 10 may refer to: Places * District 10 (Ho Chi Minh city), Vietnam * District 10 (Zürich), in Switzerland * District 10, an electoral district of Malta * District 10, a police district of Malta * District 10 School, a historic school in ...
* R. Chester Heathingt, former city employee * Guy Satterfield, former city employee


Results


2017

The 2017 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 7, 2017, to elect the
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. Incumbent Democratic Mayor
Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...
won re-election against City Councilman Larry Grohn, former City Councilman David Crockett, and businessman Chris Long. Grohn and Crockett were aligned with the Republican Party. Andy Berke won a majority of the vote in the initial round, so no runoff election was needed. This election took place alongside other 2017 Chattanooga elections, including races for
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
. Berke was sworn in to his second term on April 18, 2017.


Candidates

*
Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...
( D), incumbent mayor * David Crockett ( R), former three-term Chattanooga City Council Chairman * Larry Grohn ( R), Chattanooga City Councilman * Chris Long ( I), PhD in architecture engineering


Results


2021

The 2021 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 2, 2021, and on April 13, 2021 (as a runoff), to elect the next
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. Incumbent Democratic Mayor
Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...
was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. Since there was no candidate that received a majority of votes in the initial round of the election, a
runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
was held. In the runoff election,
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
candidate Tim Kelly was elected with 59.9% of the vote, defeating Republican candidate Kim White. This two-round election took place alongside other 2021 Chattanooga elections, including races for
City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
. Kelly was sworn in on April 19, 2021.


Candidates


Advanced to the runoff

* Tim Kelly, businessman (Independent) * Kim White, CEO (Republican)


Eliminated in the first round

*Monty Bell *Monty Bruell (Democratic) ''(endorsed Kelly)'' *Lon Cartwright *Christopher Dahl (Independent) *D'Angelo Davis, activist (Democratic) *Russell Gilbert Sr., councilman from the 5th district (Republican) *Wade Hinton, attorney (Democratic) ''(endorsed Kelly)'' *Christopher Long (Independent) *George Ryan Love, candidate for Tennessee's 3rd congressional district in 2016 (Democratic) * Andrew McLaren, actor (Independent) *Erskine Oglesby, councilman from the 7th district (Republican) *Robert Wilson *Elenora Woods, activist (Democratic) ''(endorsed Kelly)''


First round


First round polling


First round endorsements


First round results


Runoff


Runoff polling


Runoff endorsements


Runoff results


2025

The 2025 Chattanooga mayoral election will be held on March 4, 2025, to elect the
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. Incumbent
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
mayor Tim Kelly won re-election to a second term in office. All Chattanooga municipal elections are required to be
non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...
, but most candidates are known to be affiliated with political parties.


Background

On March 14, 2023, there was a proposal to make city elections aligned with county and state and national elections alongside city council term limits. However, it was rejected by the city council, making the mayor and council elections continue to be stand alone in the future.


Candidates


Declared

The following candidates were approved for the March ballot: * Tim Kelly, incumbent mayor (party affiliation: Independent) * Chris Long, candidate for mayor in 2021 (party affiliation: Independent)


Endorsements


Results


See also

*
Elections in Tennessee Elections in Tennessee are held to fill various local, state, and federal seats. Special elections may be held to fill vacancies at other points in time. Statewide legislative referrals and referendums may also be on the ballot in some elections ...
*
Political party strength in Tennessee Tennessee's politics are currently dominated by the Republican Party. Republicans currently hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats, a majority of Congressional seats, and the state legislature. Democratic strength is largely concentrated in ...
*
Government of Tennessee The Government of Tennessee is organized under the provisions of the 1870 Constitution of Tennessee, first adopted in 1796. As set forth by the state constitution, administrative influence in Tennessee is divided among three branches of governme ...
*
List of mayors of Chattanooga, Tennessee This is a list of mayors of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tim Kelly (Tennessee politician), Tim Kelly has been the incumbent mayor of Chattanooga since his inauguration on April 19, 2021 at the Tivoli Theatre (Chattanooga, Tennessee), Tivoli Theatre. ...
* Timeline of Chattanooga, Tennessee * Mayoral elections in Clarksville, Tennessee *
Mayoral elections in Knoxville, Tennessee Mayoral elections in Knoxville are held every four years to elect the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee. All Knoxville municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, but candidates can be affiliated with a political party. Knoxville uses a t ...
* Mayoral elections in Murfreesboro, Tennessee


References

{{reflist


External links


Tim Kelly (I) for Mayor
Local elections in Tennessee Chattanooga, Tennessee Non-partisan elections