Knox County mayoral candidates share views in Q&A
As Knox County prepares to elect its next mayor, voters are weighing not only the candidates themselves but also their ideas for the county’s future. To help inform that decision, farragutpress invited all four candidates to respond to a series of questions addressing leadership, priorities and long-term planning.
Below are the questions posed, followed by the answers submitted by each candidate.
1. Leadership and vision
Based on your political philosophy and your approach to solving problems, why should voters elect you as the next Knox County mayor?
2. Top challenge
What do you believe will be the most serious challenge facing the next Knox County mayor, and what specific policy or initiative would you pursue to address it?
3. Education
What role does education play in Knox County’s long-term success, and how would you support the county’s schools and workforce development efforts as mayor?
4. Infrastructure
As mayor, what would be your plan to improve and maintain infrastructure, including road repairs, traffic management and planning for future development?
5. Growth and planning
What specific policies or planning strategies would you support to ensure growth occurs in appropriate areas while reflecting the priorities and quality of life concerns of current residents?
Kim Frazier
1. Leadership and vision
I bring a community-minded, collaborative approach guided by conservative values and a deep commitment to the people and communities that make Knox County home.
I believe in limited government, fiscal responsibility, and protecting the freedoms that create opportunity, but those principles work best when guided by the needs and voices of our communities.
My approach is to listen first, bring people together, and work collaboratively to find solutions.
For more than 15 years, I’ve worked alongside neighbors, businesses, and local leaders to address challenges from growth and infrastructure to schools and public safety. I began as a citizen advocate, and as your Countywide Commissioner, I’ve turned concerns into action by improving planning and development policies, supporting law enforcement and first responders, strengthening ethics, improving emergency response, and keeping taxes low while preparing responsibly for the future.
I believe good government should be accessible, transparent, and accountable, and that the best decisions are made when citizens have a seat at the table.
Knox County deserves a Mayor who will put communities first, protect our quality of life, guide growth with purpose, and work collaboratively to shape a stronger future. I’ve been showing up when it was about people, not politics, and I’m ready to continue that work as your Mayor.
2. Top challenge
The biggest challenge is balancing growth with infrastructure, maintaining services, preserving community character, and doing it all with fiscal discipline.
Growth has outpaced infrastructure, placing pressure on roads, schools, and emergency services, while costs rise and expectations grow. My approach builds on the work already underway to proactively plan growth in a balanced, community-driven way.
A key initiative I’ve led and will continue is strengthening development policies and aligning infrastructure so roads, schools, and public safety are considered before growth happens. This includes elevating standards, streamlining processes, requiring fair developer contributions, and ensuring policies reflect today’s needs, not those from decades ago.
I will also establish a Citizens Advisory Council to give communities a direct voice in defining service expectations and helping chart how we meet those needs.
When we plan wisely and work together, we can protect what we love while creating opportunity.
3. Education
Education is critical to Knox County’s success. Strong schools prepare our children, strengthen our workforce, and support our economy.
As Mayor, I will support Knox County Schools’ efforts to strengthen academic experiences and overall student outcomes. That starts with planning ahead, so school capacity keeps pace with growth.
We must also strengthen workforce pathways. Not every student follows the same path, so we need to expand career and technical education, apprenticeships, and partnerships with local businesses so students graduate with real skills and opportunities.
I was proud to serve on the 865 Academies Advisory Committee and support collaboration across education and industry, which further supports our county’s economic future.
4. Infrastructure
Infrastructure is a core responsibility of the local government and a challenge I’ve worked on long before holding office.
As a citizen, I experienced firsthand the impacts of growth on traffic and overcrowded schools, and worked to push for better planning. As Commissioner, I’ve strengthened policies, improved long-term planning, required fair infrastructure contributions, and prioritized road investments.
We’ve made progress by creating a comprehensive land use and transportation plan that aligns development with infrastructure and considers impact on roads, schools, and public safety during planning, not after.
Next, we must redefine our decades-old “level of service.” I will engage taxpayers directly, sharing revenues, expenses, and priorities and ask what level of service they expect and how we meet it.
This is work I’ve been doing for years, and as Mayor I will continue focusing on protecting our quality of life while preparing for the future.
5. Growth and planning
Responsible growth starts with intentional planning and listening to our communities.
As Mayor, I will continue implementing our Comprehensive Land Use and Transportation Plan to guide growth in areas where infrastructure exists or is planned and aligns with community character.
We must also ensure policies stay current. Knox County adopted a Growth Policy Plan in 2001 but did not revisit it until 2022. During that time, thousands of acres were rezoned without corresponding updates.
Through a countywide effort, we brought together citizens, businesses, farmers, and community leaders to reassess where growth should occur. That work must continue.
I will ensure regular review and updates to land use regulations, make community-minded appointments to boards and committees, and expand citizen engagement through a Citizens Advisory Council.
This is about guiding growth with purpose to protect what we love while preparing for what’s ahead.
Beau Hawk
1. Leadership and vision:
I’m running to bring an outsider's voice to the mayor’s office, because the County government needs a change from the inside. Fraud, theft, and abuse have run rampant in county government for decades. Misuse of county vehicles, weak financial controls, audits that sit on shelves, and elected offices operating with no real oversight. We cannot trust the politicians who’ve gotten us to this point to lead us out of it. I’ll champion term limits for fee office holders, greater oversight within
every department, and real communication and transparency with the people we’re elected to serve.
2. Top challenge:
The most serious challenge facing the next Knox County Mayor is affordability — specifically, the housing crisis that is pricing out the very working people who make this county run. I hear it constantly on the campaign trail and from
union members across East Tennessee: Knox County is growing, but it's not growing for everyone. The fix is straightforward even if the politics aren't — we have a supply problem, and we need leadership willing to solve it. That means prioritizing growth along corridors where infrastructure already exists, removing zoning barriers to infill and mixed-use
development, and incentivizing density where it makes sense to prevent sprawl from pushing the problem further out. Knox County doesn't need to choose between growth and affordability — it needs a
mayor with the will to plan for both at the same time.
3. Education:
I support fully-funded public schools that meet the needs of each student and adequately reward teachers for their life-changing work. School vouchers do not effectively provide alternatives to public schools, rather they drain our system of needed funds. We need true champions for public schools in office, not politicians with ties to private schools and
the school privatization lobby. I know that public education
is the foundation of our community and democracy, and
we should invest in it accordingly – fully, fairly across the county, and without compromise. When we invest in our schools, we invest in our future.
4. Infrastructure:
Knox County's infrastructure problem is largely self-inflicted — we've managed roads reactively, patching potholes and adding lanes only after congestion is already out of control. As mayor, I'll shift to a merit-based investment framework: prioritize infrastructure improvements in corridors where public investment will catalyze economic growth and pay for itself over time, freeing up resources for the residential repairs that have been chronically deprioritized. That means rigorous project evaluation
tied to projected economic return, coordinated planning between road capacity and new development approvals so growth doesn't outpace infrastructure, and a long-term capital plan that gets ahead
of problems rather than reacting to them. Knox County residents deserve a county that spends their infrastructure dollars like it actually has a strategy.
5. Growth and planning:
Knox County's growth needs a clear framework: build where infrastructure already exists, protect where it
doesn't, and ensure every development decision prioritizes the community members who are directly impacted. On housing, I'll prioritize removing zoning barriers
to infill development, incentivize mixed-income housing near existing transit and utilities, and push for stronger tenant protections to keep corporate landlords from pricing long-time residents out.
On land use, I'll support updated comprehensive planning that includes enforceable greenspace protections, agricultural conservation easements, and tree canopy standards tied to development approvals. And I'll establish a standing community advisory process that brings residents, neighborhood associations, and environmental stakeholders to the table before decisions are made.
Betsy Henderson
1. Leadership and vision:
When I was sworn in to serve on the Knox County School Board in December 2020, our community faced a crisis: COVID.
In that moment, I stood with families, not hysteria. In the face of attacks and intimidation, I fought to keep schools open and opposed mask mandates because parents, not politicians, should make decisions for their children. Such leadership experience matters because when you choose an executive, the next challenge remains unknown but is likely right around the corner.
It is important to choose a leader who shares your values, has the judgment to make tough decisions, and has the courage to stand firm under pressure. Being Mayor is not about speeches or slogans, but rather, it is about leadership when it counts. When tested in a crisis, I did not back down, and I will bring that same resolve and decision-making to the mayor’s office.
2. Top challenge:
Prioritizing County spending will be my top priorities because that will allow us to have the resources we need invest in roads, school and our Sherriff’s Office.
I will oppose any tax increase and work to keep your tax burden low.
Since Knox County’s last property tax increase in 1999, the county budget has nearly tripled from about $423 million to more than $1.1 billion today. With responsible budgeting and natural growth, we can fund our roads, schools, public safety, and essential services without asking families to pay more.
3. Education:
From day one on the School Board, my focus has been clear: put students first and deliver real results. Knox County Schools is the third largest school district in Tennessee. We educate nearly 60,000 students and represent approximately two thirds of Knox County’s overall budget. I had the honor of serving as Chair for two years, leading during a time when our schools, families, and teachers needed steady leadership.
We did not just talk about improvement. We made tough decisions and took action.
Together, we reduced central office staffing to push more resources into the classroom. We brought in strong new leadership to move the district forward. We invested directly in classroom teachers to remain competitive and stop the loss of talent to surrounding districts. We expanded career and technical training opportunities so students can graduate ready for college, trade school, or military service.
We will build on this foundation and ensure Knox
County continues moving toward world class schools while maintaining fiscal discipline and strong parental
involvement.
4. Infrastructure:
We deserve infrastructure that supports families, neighborhoods, and local businesses. As mayor, I’ll prioritize the projects that matter most to our residents and I’ll do it with responsible conservative budgeting. No wasteful spending. No tax hikes.
Many of Knox County’s biggest road challenges are managed by the City, the State, or the Federal Government. That’s why relationships matter. I’ve already built strong partnerships with our state and federal delegation to fight for Knox County, and I’ll keep doing it to secure every dollar we deserve.
We will cut red tape, streamline government, and make sure your tax dollars go where they belong into better roads, safer neighborhoods, and reliable services for our families.
5. Growth and planning:
A growing and thriving community is a blessing, but reckless, unchecked development is not. We must take a proactive, conservative approach—one that ensures economic opportunity without sacrificing our identity. That means supporting responsible expansion while maintaining the charm that makes East Tennessee home.
The County is going through a process to develop plans for the next 20 years of development. I sat on the committee that reviewed the growth plan called Advance Knox. I did not vote for that plan because it opened up over 9,000 acres of rural land for development across Knox County.
We are blessed to live in a community that people want to join, but this is our community and we get to determine its future. As your Mayor, I will listen to the people to ensure we grow in a way that protects what we love about East TN.
Larsen Jay
1. Leadership and vision:
Voters will choose their next Knox County Mayor, a role that serves as the President/CEO of our county’s operations. I view Knox County as a public service organization owned by its citizens, responsible for delivering five core services: public safety, education, infrastructure, health, and economic development. After a lifetime of hard work, including more than twenty years of exective leadership and eight years as your at-large County Commissioner, I am prepared to lead Knox County into its next chapter. My experience across the private, community, and government sectors has given me a strong understanding of how to make informed, balanced decisions that benefit the public. This is a critical time for Knox County. As our community grows, we must meet new challenges with common-sense conservative leadership. I am committed to public service and to ensuring Knox County remains a place where our children can live and succeed. That requires honest, accountable leadership, and I am ready to serve.
2. Top challenge:
The most serious challenge facing the next Knox County Mayor will be addressing infrastructure demands caused by rapid growth. If we do not act quickly, congestion and gridlock could discourage people and businesses from investing in our community. Infrastructure includes the systems that move people, goods, and services efficiently, but road conditions and traffic are immediate concerns. Nearly half of Knox County’s neighborhood roads have not been repaved since they were built, creating a significant backlog. To address this, I would double the paving budget in my first year and continue increasing investment until we reduce the 3,400-mile backlog. I would also target major congestion points by adding turn lanes, installing roundabouts, and widening key roads to improve traffic flow. Additionally, I would work with state officials to secure grants and allow Knox County to complete certain state road improvements. This approach would lower costs and shorten timelines, allowing us to deliver results more quickly for residents.
3. Education:
Education is essential to Knox County’s long-term success. There is no better investment than education as it directly impacts our future workforce and economic growth. Although public schools are governed by the State of Tennessee and administered locally, the mayor plays an important role in advocacy and collaboration. I would work closely with the Superintendent and Board of Education to support strong academic outcomes and effective planning. This includes promoting civics education, expanding career pathways, and supporting workforce development opportunities that connect students with real-world skills. I would also support strategic school consolidation in some areas to replace outdated facilities with modern schools that better serve students and teachers. In addition, I would champion higher education institutions, trade schools, and military service opportunities to ensure students have multiple pathways to success and that Knox County builds a strong, adaptable workforce.
4. Infrastructure:
In addition to prioritizing road repairs and expansions, I would modernize traffic management. One key initiative would be implementing AI-driven smart traffic light systems that adjust in real time based on traffic patterns, improving flow and reducing delays. I would also work with state leaders to develop a regional bypass to redirect transit trucks away from congested highways, improving safety and travel times. Finally, I would support the development of choice lanes to increase capacity on major routes. By combining improved maintenance, modern technology, and long-term planning, we can create a transportation system that meets current and future needs.
5. Growth and planning:
Managing growth responsibly is critical to preserving Knox County’s quality of life. The AdvanceKnox Comprehensive Growth Plan provides a strong framework for balancing development and preservation. Because Knox County operates separately from the City of Knoxville and the Town of Farragut, it is important to maintain a coordinated approach. AdvanceKnox focuses on concentrating development along major corridors while protecting rural areas. As our population is expected to grow, we must remain committed to smart growth policies that align housing, jobs, and development with infrastructure capacity. By following this plan, we can support growth while preserving Knox County.
