Mayoral elections in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Mayoral elections in Chattanooga are held every four years to elect the mayor of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

All Chattanooga municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, but most candidates can be affiliated with political parties.

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 of Chattanooga. Incumbent Republican mayor Bob Corker 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, who earned 54.11% of the vote.

2009
The 2009 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 3, 2009, to elect the next mayor of Chattanooga. Incumbent independent Mayor Ron Littlefield 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, incumbent mayor
 * Thomas Smith II, perennial candidate

2013
The 2013 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 5, 2013, to elect the next mayor of Chattanooga. Incumbent Independent Mayor Ron Littlefield was term-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. Democratic candidate Andy Berke was elected with 72.3% of the vote, defeating Guy Satterfield.

Candidates

 * Andy Berke, former member of the Tennessee Senate from district 10
 * R. Chester Heathingt, former city employee
 * Guy Satterfield, former city employee

2017
The 2017 Chattanooga mayoral election was held on March 7, 2017, to elect the mayor of Chattanooga. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Andy Berke 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. Berke was sworn in to his second term on April 18, 2017.

Candidates

 * Andy Berke (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

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 of Chattanooga. Incumbent Democratic Mayor Andy Berke 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 was held. In the runoff election, Independent 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. Kelly was sworn in on April 19, 2021.

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)

2025
The 2025 Chattanooga mayoral election will be held on March 4, 2025, to elect the mayor of Chattanooga. Incumbent Independent mayor Tim Kelly is running for re-election to a second term in office. All Chattanooga municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, 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.

Declared

 * Tim Kelly, incumbent mayor (party affiliation: Independent)