Knoxville City Council District 3 was one of two districts — the other was District 6 — that didn’t produce a first-place finisher in the August primary who garnered at least half the vote.

District 3 is the most politically purple district in the city.

Doug Lloyd came in first with 41.93 percent of the vote, followed by Frank Ramey with 31.3 percent. Lloyd carried six of the Northwest Knoxville district’s eight precincts and did particularly well in the area south of Western Avenue and in Norwood. Primary turnout in the district was just 10.3 percent, second lowest in the city.

The district encompasses Northwest Knoxville from Middlebrook Pike to Clinton Highway, with Western Avenue serving as its backbone. Neighborhoods include Dowell Springs, Amherst, Cumberland Estates, Pleasant Ridge and half of Norwood.

The seat is currently held by Seema Singh, who could not run for reelection because of term limits. 

Politically, the district is the most purple sector of the city. Singh, one of Council’s most progressive members, failed to win the primary in 2017 but won in the citywide general election. She won both the primary and general elections in 2021. This year, however, because of a change in state law, only district voters will select a district’s representative. 

Though city elections are nonpartisan, Lloyd is well positioned heading into the general election. Like primary opponents Ivan Harmon and Nick Ciparro, he ran as a conservative and is the logical alternative for their supporters.

Early voting in the general election runs Oct. 15-30. Election Day is Nov. 4.

These profiles are lightly edited updates from Compass’ primary coverage.

Doug Lloyd

Political newcomer Doug Lloyd is the president, CEO and co-founder of Lloyd’s Electric Service. Lloyd said he started the company in 1982 at a kitchen table with his father in the Amherst neighborhood.

“I was born and raised in the 3rd District,” Lloyd said. “I’ve lived here most of my life, as (have) most of my family.”

And his family has been in the Knoxville area for generations, he said, noting that his great-great-grandmother came to Knoxville in a covered wagon to settle here.

Lloyd married his high school sweetheart, Debbie, and they have one son and four grandchildren.

Lloyd leads in fundraising, relying heavily on Republican donors, and his campaign manager is conservative consultant Erik Wiatr.

Since Lloyd started campaigning, he’s knocked on hundreds of doors, and most people in the district have told him they want good city services.

“Most people want their roads fixed. They want their garbage picked up. They want to maintain good police and fire protection,” he said. “They don’t want any homeless camps in their neighborhood, and basically they want to be left alone. They also don’t want any silly spending.”

He said that he’s heard people complaining about an out-of-district issue, a pedestrian bridge connecting the University of Tennessee to South Knoxville.

“Oh, my goodness, they do not want a pedestrian bridge,” he said. He added that Knoxville Police Department spending on mounted officers also got some people upset. “That seemed like a foolish idea.”

He suggested that the cost of the mounted officers could instead be spent on police cruisers, to “be a bit more practical.”

Lloyd said he does not plan to be a “yes man” if elected. He said he’s learned how to handle coalition-building during his four years on the Knox County Board of Zoning Appeals.

“If we can find any logical way to help these citizens … I certainly do,” he said. “Oftentimes, we are very successful at that.”

Historically, Lloyd has, through his company, donated some time and resources to the city. He previously helped with lighting the Christmas tree downtown, or handing out water during events. But over time, he said, the city has become more difficult to work with. He added that he would take a look at the city’s inspections and codes-enforcement efforts.

He said that the permitting process for some construction is too slow for his liking. “The employees at the City County Building, (who) work for the city, seem to hide behind the wall up there, and they want you to do everything via a website,” Lloyd said. 

About five years ago, if there was an issue with a permit or inspection, he said, it was possible to have a conversation directly with people to solve matters.

“But right now it’s very difficult to talk to anyone in a meaningful manner,” he said, adding that he has easier access to staff in places like Chattanooga and Oak Ridge.

He supports more infrastructure development, including sidewalks and sideroads, in the 3rd District. He also opposes the proposed sales-tax increase. 

Elsewhere in the city, Lloyd said, he’s disappointed that city leaders have not asked KPD to participate in federal Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raids on immigrants.

“A lot of the people I talk to want to know why the mayor isn’t terribly interested,” Lloyd said.

“I would absolutely have (KPD) participate with ICE and participate with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd said he sees his business sense helping to inform his decisions on City Council, if he were elected.

“I’ll tell you what, 43 years in business, I know how to make a budget. And I know how to stick to it. I can live within my means. And, I think, if I were on Council, I could help the city live within theirs,” Lloyd said. “I would like to see more meaningful cuts in city spending, rather than ask for more money every time you look up.”

Frank Ramey

Frank Ramey, who is also running for public office for the first time, has lived in District 3 for most of his life. He graduated from the University of Tennessee and traveled to work with Lowe’s but has moved back to raise his family and work. He is the president of BulkMunitions.com, which sells wholesale ammunition for firearms. The company sends 10 percent of profits to Christian-based nonprofits that support the 2nd Amendment.

“Pretty standard,” he said, describing his family. “Wife (Kate), two kids and a dog. My kids go to elementary school in our district.” Ramey also owns some commercial property in the 3rd District, and he flips houses.

The Cumberland Estates resident has lived there since 2014 and said he knows his community from childhood and from being there for more than a decade. He’s running on security, among other issues.

“Folks are always concerned about porch pirates,” he said, referring to people who steal packages after they have been delivered. “And just general safety … they want to know that the places are being patrolled.”

He said that KPD does good work in neighborhoods but added that he would like to see neighborhood liaisons in place.

“From what I understand it no longer exists. … It would be good to go back to that one point of contact,” he said.

Ramey believes that more traffic safety along Western Avenue is needed. “They turned it into a five-lane superhighway, straight shot,” he said, “with no consideration for traffic calming.”

He said that work would be done with the state to calm traffic on the highway. A pedestrian bridge over Western needs a greenway connection, which the city could assist with, to be useful.

Citywide, he said, housing supply needs help, and he suggested easing permitting.

“Is there red tape we can cut? I know a whole lot of folks have complained about how difficult it is,” he said. “Friends of mine that develop and build (complain about) how difficult it can be to work within the city.”

He said that delays in permitting and inspections can squeeze smaller developers who may not have capital to wait on project delays. He added that Chattanooga has a good model for permitting that Knoxville might be able to learn from.

“I looked into it, and (Chattanooga has) nailed it down a little bit better,” he said. “It worked in Tennessee.”

Best practices learned from other communities such as Chattanooga or elsewhere could be useful to help inform Knoxville’s path forward, he said.

As for other citywide issues, Ramey said he’s still gathering input from people about the sales-tax-increase referendum and hasn’t taken a position on whether he’s for or against it just yet. He thinks that the referendum should have a sunset clause built into it so that the tax handles specific projects and then ends.

“The projects are done, and then what? The projects are done and then it just becomes another tax,” he said. “I would push for additional referendums after the projects are done to vote up or down on (whether) to keep the tax.”

As a business-minded person, Ramey thinks about whether the levers available to the city are being used in the best way.

“It’s good to know,” he said, “can we pull things back?”

The bulk of Ramey’s campaign funding has come from a $4,900 loan he made to the campaign. He hasn’t been paying a campaign manager but has donated to candidates in other districts who are being advised by Democratic consultant Jack Vaughan.

Ramey said he’s heard from voters about finances and safety as primary issues.

“A lot of folks are just pinched,” he said. “And a lot of it is safety. People want to make sure of that.”

He’s telling voters that to make a strong community it’s important to be in the community. Ramey said he plans to be available to 3rd District voters.

“I know the city and care about the city, and I care about them,” Ramey said. “It’s a great place to live for everyone.”