By Focus Staff
Knoxvillians and Knox Countians, by an overwhelming majority, support nonpartisan election of local officials.
This week’s Knoxville Focus poll posed the question, “In your opinion, should local elections be partisan or nonpartisan?” Almost 71% of those surveyed said they support nonpartisan elections.
The most support for having partisan elections came from the First District, which is entirely within the confines of the City of Knoxville. Almost 62% of residents of the First District polled said they prefer nonpartisan elections.
By contrast, more than 81% of those living in the Second District, which is also entirely within the confines of the City of Knoxville, said they support nonpartisan election of local officials.
The second highest total supporting nonpartisan election of local officials came from a district that is entirely outside of the City limits: the Eighth District, where almost 77% said they favored nonpartisan elections.
Women strongly favored electing local officials via nonpartisan elections, while fewer men supported the idea. More than 76% of women believe local officials should be elected on a nonpartisan basis, while just over 63% of men support local offices being elected on a nonpartisan basis.
The Focus has polled on this question before and slightly more people now support electing local officials on a nonpartisan basis.
