Do close partisan school board races signal a political shift in Knox County?

Becca Wright, Knoxville News Sentinel
·4 min read

Three people will soon take their seats as the newest members of the Knox County Board of Education next month following the first partisan school board election in 20 years.

Katherine Bike, John Butler and Steve Triplett are new to the board, joining incumbents Betsy Henderson and Kristi Kristy with election victories Thursday in the general election.

Bike's win in District 4 was the most notable of the night. She prevailed by fewer than 150 votes even though her opponent, Republican Will Edwards, raised more than $100,000 for his campaign, or three times as much as the Democrat.

Katherine Bike, Democratic candidate for school board, narrowly defeated her Republican opponent Will Edwards in District 4.
Katherine Bike, Democratic candidate for school board, narrowly defeated her Republican opponent Will Edwards in District 4.

The district typically leans Republican, but Bike's win shows a Democratic shift in that part of Knoxville and Knox County.

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"We as the Democratic party are on the move," Matt Shears, Knox County Democratic party chair, told Knox News. "We are on the offensive, and the Republican party is on the defensive. It is not a matter of if, but when we take control of the county government."

Partisan leanings seem to be shifting in South Knoxville, as well. Early voting initially gave Democratic candidate for District 9 Annabel Henley a slight lead, but as regular voting totals rolled in, Republican Kristy pulled ahead and defeated Henley by fewer than 300 votes.

"We all know that it's brutal campaigning in this political climate," Kristy said on Thursday night after declaring her win.

"My race, and a lot of races, came down to absentee ballots. I think that we (the Republican party) need to kind of rally moving forward," Kristy said.

Incumbent school board member Kristi Kristy, a Republican, celebrated a narrow win over the Democratic challenger Annabel Henley for District 9.
Incumbent school board member Kristi Kristy, a Republican, celebrated a narrow win over the Democratic challenger Annabel Henley for District 9.

Other school board election results were a little less surprising. Former Knoxville NAACP president and Democrat Butler swept his independent opponents for District 1 with more than 73% of the vote. Henderson, now running as a Republican, was reelected to District 6 over independent candidate Phillip Michael Sherman, and District 7 Republican Triplett defeated independent Dominique Oakley.

The partisan school board election came about due to a change in state law signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee last fall and a vote from the Knox County Commission to adopt the partisan setup.

We knew at the very least there would be three new board members. Evetty Satterfield (District 1), Virginia Babb (District 4) and Patti Bounds (District 7) all chose not to run again back in December. Babb and Satterfield served one term on the board, and Bounds served two.

For Babb, the decision came shortly after the partisan election was adopted. "I am not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. I'm not going to do that just because they changed the rules of the game now,” she told Knox News in December.

Betsy Henderson, incumbent and Republican representative for school board district 6, defeated independent Phillip Michael Sherman on Thursday.
Betsy Henderson, incumbent and Republican representative for school board district 6, defeated independent Phillip Michael Sherman on Thursday.

Here's a look at the school board as a whole. It has nine members serving four-year terms, and half are elected every two years. 

  • District One: John Butler – new

  • District Two: Jennifer Owen – returning

  • District Three: Daniel Watson – returning

  • District Four: Katherine Bike – new

  • District Five: Susan Horn – returning

  • District Six: Betsy Henderson – returning

  • District Seven: Steve Triplett – new

  • District Eight: Mike McMillan – returning

  • District Nine: Kristi Kristy – returning

The political makeup of the board now looks like this:

  • Four nonpartisan members (who will be up for reelection in 2024): Horn, McMillan, Owen and Watson

  • Three Republicans: Henderson, Kristy and Triplett

  • Two Democrats: Bike and Butler

Because four members of the board were elected under a nonpartisan election, no party officially has a political majority on the board. That will almost certainly change in two years.

The school board shakeup could change the course of Tennessee's third-largest school district as it faces COVID-19 learning loss, a new superintendent, and continued debates over charter schools and school voucher programs, policing and school security, equity gaps and teacher retention. 

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"I'm looking forward to the new year," Kristy told Knox News on Tuesday night. "We've got an amazing new superintendent. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside him because he's got a great vision, and I think great things are going to happen for Knox County Schools."

Knox County wasn't the only district with a partisan school board election this fall. Davidson, Hamilton, Rutherford and Williamson counties, some of Tennessee’s largest school districts, all went to partisan races this year, according to Tennessee’s election division.

Becca Wright: Higher education reporter at Knox News
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County school board races: Bike's win shows Democratic shift