{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Katina Sharp","chatgptsummary":"Katina Sharp's background as a mental-health counselor and Presbyterian minister suggests experience in constituent relations and community engagement. Her campaign statements indicate familiarity with local policy issues like housing and school funding, though she has not yet held elected office or served on county committees. Bio does not indicate direct budget literacy or legislative drafting experience.","notes":null,"party":"D","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nKatina Sharp is the Democratic nominee for Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 10 in the August 6, 2026 general election, running against Republican Justin Cofer and independent Ronin Cunningham [1]. Her priorities are full, fair funding for Knox County Schools \"with no disguised cuts,\" an affordable- and workforce-housing strategy with defined affordability benchmarks, transparent and proactive capital-infrastructure planning, and school safety including counselor-to-student ratios meeting national benchmarks [1]. She backs the Unified Development Ordinance \"unequivocally,\" calling it what turns the Advance Knox plan \"from a shelf document into actionable policy.\" [1]\n\n## Background and education\nSharp, 46, is a Presbyterian minister [1].\n\n## Career\nShe is a former mental-health and substance-abuse counselor [1]. She says her approach to governance draws on her church experience: \"The best way to make change is slow and steady with data and lots of input from the people who will be affected.\" [1] During the campaign she attended county commission meetings and met with department heads to understand the commission's responsibilities and limits [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 10 voter's guide (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/knox-county-commission-large-seat-081219516.html) - accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"Katina","lastname":"Sharp","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"5Ebew7UZ6H"},"token":"katina_sharp"},{"candidatename":"Ronin Cunningham","chatgptsummary":"Ronin Cunningham's biography shows recent campaign outreach and stated priorities on housing, infrastructure, and emergency services for Knox County. The record contains no documented controversies or disciplinary history. Bio does not indicate experience in budgeting, legislative drafting, or county government law required for the role.","notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nRonin Cunningham is the independent candidate for Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 10 in the August 6, 2026 general election, facing Republican Justin Cofer and Democrat Katina Sharp [1]. At 20, he is the youngest candidate in the race and says he is running out of an obligation \"to step up as a local citizen,\" with a vision of Knox County leading the state in quality of life, accountability and transparency [1][2]. His priorities include housing availability and affordability, reducing road accidents through improved infrastructure and traffic planning, faster emergency-responder response times, school performance, and expanded mental-health and crisis-intervention services county-wide [2]. He supports passing the Unified Development Ordinance despite imperfections, and says residents should be prioritized over businesses when projects pose environmental, health or safety risks [2].\n\n## Background and education\nCunningham, 20, is a student at Walters State Community College [2]. He has focused his campaign on social-media and website outreach and on contacting local and state government representatives [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 10 voter's guide (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/knox-county-commission-large-seat-081219516.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Primary 2026: Commission At-Large Seat 10 (Compass Knox)](https://compassknox.com/2026/04/23/primary-2026-commission-at-large-seat-10/) - accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"Ronin","lastname":"Cunningham","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"VlJoxaNh6B"},"token":"ronin_cunningham"},{"candidatename":"Justin D. Cofer","chatgptsummary":"Cofer's biography shows a Bachelor of Business Administration and over a decade managing large-scale infrastructure projects with cost controls in the Air Force, relevant to budget literacy and policy judgment. Records document his 2017 firing from a corrections facility following an investigation into policy violations involving controlled substances, though he disputes the allegations and no criminal charges were filed. Bio does not indicate prior elected office experience or specific county legislative process experience.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nJustin D. Cofer is the Republican nominee for Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 10 in the August 6, 2026 general election, running to replace term-limited Commissioner Larsen Jay [1]. He won the May 2026 Republican primary with 43% of the vote over Kimberly Glenn and Ronnie Rochelle, and faces independent Ronin Cunningham and Democrat Katina Sharp [1]. Cofer describes himself as an \"Air Force Veteran. Husband. Father. Conservative Republican.\" [4] His central themes are fiscal accountability, a complete external audit of the county's roughly $1.1 billion budget, a dedicated roads fund, and managed growth: \"Growth itself isn't the problem, poor planning is.\" [2]\n\n## Background and education\nCofer, 46, lives in the Ball Camp area of West Knox County with his wife and two sons [2][4]. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from King University, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and says he scored in the top 1% nationally on the Peregrine Business Exam [4][2].\n\n## Career\nCofer served more than a decade in an Air Force Civil Engineering Squadron as an Electrical Power Production Specialist, work he describes as managing large-scale infrastructure projects with cost controls and multimillion-dollar asset oversight [4]. Compass Knox describes him as a former civil engineer in the Air Force [2]. His voter-guide occupation is listed as American Legion legislative liaison [1]. He authored a children's book, \"Everyday Heroes,\" about \"service, sacrifice, and community.\" [4]\n\n## Office history\nCofer has not previously held elected office [2]. During the campaign he attended county commission meetings and met with county officials including CFO Chris Caldwell and engineering director Jim Snowden, saying, \"I'm evolving my views as I learn more...A good leader has to be willing to adjust when you've got the right evidence.\" [1]\n\n## Documented disputes and controversies\nCofer was fired in 2017 from the Morgan County Correctional Complex after an internal investigation; according to the investigation he violated a corrections policy prohibiting staff dealings with offenders and engaged in \"conduct unbecoming,\" and it referenced possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy [3]. He worked there in two stints (2006-2008 and 2011-2017); he resigned in 2008 after testing positive for morphine and opiates, which his resignation letter attributed to treatments for health issues from his Iraq deployment [3]. Cofer disputed the 2017 allegations, saying \"There was zero evidence that I'd done anything wrong\" and that an inmate falsely reported he brought a cell phone into the facility; no criminal charges appear in Morgan County records and he said he was never arrested [3].\n\n## Family\nCofer is married and has two sons [4].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 10 voter's guide (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/knox-county-commission-large-seat-081219516.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Primary 2026: Commission At-Large Seat 10 (Compass Knox)](https://compassknox.com/2026/04/23/primary-2026-commission-at-large-seat-10/) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [Knox County Commission candidate Justin Cofer was fired for drug infraction (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/knox-county-commission-candidate-justin-190139945.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[4] [Justin Cofer for Knox County Commission (campaign site)](https://www.knoxcountyforcofer.com/) - accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"Justin","lastname":"Cofer","middlename":"D.","suffix":null,"token":"qfFIbC7XGJ"},"token":"justin_d_cofer"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":null,"districtgroup":null,"districtgroupname":null,"districtname":null,"job_type":"county_commissioner","o.office":null,"office":"county_commission_at_large_seat_10","officedescription":"A county commissioner is a member of the county's legislative body. The commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, authorizes borrowing, and passes county resolutions and ordinances. Commissioners are elected from districts (or at-large seats) to represent constituents on countywide policy.","officequalities":"- Policy judgment on countywide matters \u2014 budget, taxes, land use, services, and intergovernmental issues \u2014 within Tennessee county-government law.\n- Budget literacy: the commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, and authorizes multi-year bond issues.\n- Legislative process: drafting, amending, and voting on resolutions and ordinances; committee work that pre-screens items.\n- Constituent relations in the district \u2014 case-work and community issues flow through the commissioner's office.\n- Willingness to complete the state-required annual continuing education through UT CTAS.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County Commissioner","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":{"retrieved_at":"2026-07-19","title":"knox County, TN \u2014 August 6, 2026 Sample Ballot","url":"https://www.knoxcounty.org/election/pdfs/General%20Sample%20Ballot_08.06.26.pdf"},"title":"County Commission At-Large, Seat 10"}