Knox County mayoral candidates Betsy Henderson and Beau Hawk answered questions from the public Tuesday at a “conversation” hosted by the West Hills Community Association at the First Church of the Nazarene on Vanosdale Road.

Hawk and Henderson responded to 18 questions — some of them loaded — from a crowd of more than 100 residents.

Hawk, a Democrat, and GOP nominee Henderson responded to 18 questions posed by some of the more than 100 people in attendance. A few of the questions, which weren’t screened, were loaded, and the crowd was, at times, boisterous.

The candidates started off by identifying the most important and pressing issue facing Knox County. 

Henderson led with a common theme of her speeches — “If everything’s a priority, nothing is a priority.” She then turned to the need to improve the road infrastructure because much of the county’s growth occurs in areas served by two-lane country roads.

“A lot of our roads are county, city, state and federal, so it’s about having relationships with our state delegation, our federal delegation,” she said. “I work very well with both those delegations. It’s about having good relationships and getting our piece of the pie in Knox County.”

Hawk said handling growth is the key to resolving a lot of issues in the county. He said people are concerned about developers “railroading” projects through the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission, and those in rural areas worry about sprawl. He said the county needs a variety of housing options at more price points to be affordable.

“Tackling growth and making sure it benefits everybody in Knox County is a priority,” Hawk said.

Asked about reducing divisiveness in government, the candidates referred to their personal experiences. 

“I’ve been committed to working with people across the political spectrum in any career because we have certain goals we’re trying to achieve,” said Hawk, who is president of the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Central Labor Council. “We try to negotiate better contracts and better working standards for the people we represent, so we’ve got to treat people with respect regardless of their political affiliation.”

He said he would establish a neighborhood council, a business council and bipartisan committees to work on specific issues.

Henderson noted that she has served on the school board for six years, and that it’s made up of five Republicans and four Democrats. She also has met with constituents regularly and listened to their concerns even when they disagreed with her.

“We really do have to work together,” she said. “A lot of these issues are running the day-to-day (business) of the county, making sure that our schools are great, making sure that our roads are a focus, making sure our families live in safe neighborhoods.”

Henderson, who has pledged to not raise the property-tax rate if elected, said that voters she has met while campaigning agree with her.

“Families are already stretched thin, whether it’s at the gas pumps or the grocery store, so government needs to get out of people’s way and live within its means, just as we do as families,” she said.

She said the county hasn’t raised the property-tax rate since 1999 because of natural growth and responsible savings that would cover the county’s ballooning debt obligations in the coming years.

Hawk also said it isn’t a good idea to raise the property-tax rate at this time because people are struggling, but he added that a bipartisan committee should look at revenue options.

“Whatever we do, we have to make sure there’s a concrete and precise value proposition to get buy-in,” he said, adding that transparency would be needed to gain the public’s trust.

Some audience members asked about the impact of the state’s school voucher program, which Henderson publicly advocated for when she was chair of the school board, and County Commission’s decision last month to shift $4 million from the schools in the 2026-27 budget to boost pay raises for general government employees.

“I do believe in school choice,” Henderson said, defending her advocacy. “I believe that parents should be put in the driver’s seat of their children’s education.”

She said she disagreed with Commission’s use of revenues previously earmarked for the schools. “We need to invest in our workers without being short-sighted.”

Hawk said the voucher program is just a way to divert public money away from public schools. “There’s nothing wrong whatsoever with sending your kids to private school, but we as taxpayers should not be paying for it,” he said.

Two attendees attempted to question Hawk about a recently reported trip he made to Caracas, Venezuela, in 2020, where he participated in a march in support of then-President Nicolas Maduro. Hawk has said that he went on the trip as a member of the Teamsters union but hasn’t had any contact with the organizers — a self-described Marxist group called Freedom Road Socialist Organization — since joining the Iron Workers union later that year and moving to Knoxville.

Hawk supporters in the audience shouted down the first man who brought up Venezuela and nearly prevented the second person from asking his question about the candidates’ recommended reading list (he said Hawk had posted a reading list with communist writings) and their political philosophies.

Neither offered a reading list, but they did share their outlook on governing.

“My philosophy is I’m an American, I’m a trade-union member, and I’m a member of the community here in Knox County, and I want to see it better and I want us to work together instead of being divided,” Hawk said.

Henderson pointed to faith and family: “When it comes to governing, No. 1, I am a daughter of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, a mom and a wife. That drives my decision making … I will always fight for freedom and liberty.”

The audience member who asked the final question of the night wanted to know what leader the candidates would like to emulate. Both reached into their backgrounds.

“Somebody I looked up to, who just passed away recently, was Vonda McDaniel, the president of the Nashville Central Labor Council, because she was a champion for getting out in the community, making sure she was present every single day and getting people to build more relationships, more trust,” Hawk said. “Those are the qualities I’d like to emulate.”

Henderson said that she admired President Ronald Reagan but that her mentor was former U.S. Rep. Jimmy Duncan. “He gave me my first job out of college, had me come to D.C.,” she said. “He’s been a mentor to me for decades, and his endorsement meant everything to me. He’s a phenomenal leader and he continues to be a phenomenal leader. I’m just so fortunate to know him and get his advice daily, so that would be somebody I really look up to in the political world.”