{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"Vivian Underwood Shipe","chatgptsummary":"Shipe's thirty-five years as a union president and decades of nonprofit leadership demonstrate experience in constituent relations and community advocacy relevant to the role. Her work on mental-health initiatives shows policy judgment regarding social services. The biography contains no record of controversy or disciplinary action. Bio does not indicate experience with county budgeting, legislative drafting, or state-mandated continuing education.","notes":null,"party":"D","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nVivian Underwood Shipe is the Democratic nominee for Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 11 in the August 6, 2026 general election, running against Republican Garrett Holt and independent David Velarde [1]. She has conducted months-long listening tours across all nine county districts [1]. Her priorities include expanding mental-health facilities and emergency psychiatric assessment centers, affordable housing using existing and empty buildings, education with trades programs and paid apprenticeships, a 24/7 county-wide \"micro\" green-bus transit system, and opposing data-center construction in Knox County [1]. \"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few,\" she says [1].\n\n## Background and education\nShipe, 70, is a graduate of Austin-East Magnet High School and earned an associate degree in marketing from Pellissippi State Community College [1][2].\n\n## Career\nShe was a public servant for 35 years with the U.S. Postal Service, 25 of them as union president [2].\n\n## Legislative record and accomplishments\nFor more than 30 years Shipe has been a Knoxville community advocate; she is founder and director of the nonprofit I AM The Voice of the Voiceless, a founding member of the Faith Leaders Health Initiative, a Knoxville Utilities Board advocate, and a Tennessee Tribune journalist [2][3]. Her advocacy helped push the city, county, state and McNabb Center to open a Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center jail-diversion program for people with mental illness [2]. She serves on the boards of the East Tennessee Eye Bank and the League of Women Voters and is active with the East Knox Lions Club [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 11 voter's guide (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/knox-county-commission-large-seat-080720824.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Vivian Underwood Shipe: voice of the voiceless (Knox TN Today)](https://www.knoxtntoday.com/vivian-underwood-shipe-voice-of-the-voiceless/) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[3] [Vivian Underwood Shipe Runs for Office (The Tennessee Tribune)](https://tntribune.com/vivian-underwood-shipe-runs-for-office/) - accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"Vivian","lastname":"Shipe","middlename":"Underwood","suffix":null,"token":"rt61XAyWFa"},"token":"vivian_underwood_shipe"},{"candidatename":"Garrett Holt","chatgptsummary":"Garrett Holt's background includes a degree in accounting, nine years in sales, and service on the Board of Zoning Appeals and Public Building Authority, demonstrating relevant budget literacy and legislative committee experience for county governance. He previously ran for city council and county commission, showing familiarity with local electoral processes. Bio does not indicate prior elected office experience or direct policy judgment experience on countywide budgets and taxes.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nGarrett Holt is the Republican nominee for Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 11 in the August 6, 2026 general election, running to succeed Commissioner Kim Frazier and facing Democrat Vivian Underwood Shipe and independent David Velarde [1][2]. It is his second consecutive commission bid [1][2]. His priorities center on roads and infrastructure - halting a roughly 1%-a-year decline in road quality, and congestion fixes such as roundabouts and intelligent traffic signals - plus first-responder and county-employee pay, comprehensive land-use planning, and review of the Advance Knox recommendations [1][2]. \"The mindset isn't, 'Hey, am I voting red or blue?'\" he told Compass Knox [2].\n\n## Background and education\nHolt, in his early 30s (reported as 31 in April 2026 and 32 in the general-election guide), is a lifelong Knoxville resident living west of Rocky Hill [2][1]. He was valedictorian of West High School's class of 2012 and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Tennessee with a degree in accounting and international business [2].\n\n## Career\nHolt has worked in public accounting and spent about nine years in medical diagnostic-equipment sales, along with real-estate ventures; he is now a medical student at Lincoln Memorial University with plans to become a physician, and is also a small-business owner and bodybuilder [1][2].\n\n## Office history\nHolt ran for the nonpartisan 6th District Knoxville City Council seat in 2021 [2]. In 2024 he won the GOP primary for the 4th District County Commission seat with two-thirds of the vote but lost the general election to Democrat Shane Jackson by about one percentage point [2]. He has served as an appointed member of the Board of Zoning Appeals and on the Public Building Authority board, and is involved with Family Promise of Knoxville [2].\n\n## Business interests and wealth source\nHis campaign reported raising $48,475 and spending $32,747 in the first quarter of 2026 [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 11 voter's guide (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/knox-county-commission-large-seat-080720824.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Primary 2026: Commission At-Large Seat 11 (Compass Knox)](https://compassknox.com/2026/04/17/primary-2026-commission-at-large-seat-11/) - accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"Garrett","lastname":"Holt","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"FZVgY0vleI"},"token":"garrett_holt"},{"candidatename":"David Velarde","chatgptsummary":"David Velarde's twenty-five-year medical practice in Knoxville demonstrates sustained local community engagement and constituent relations relevant to district representation. The biography contains no documented controversies or disciplinary records. Bio does not indicate experience with county budgeting, legislative drafting, or Tennessee county-government law.","notes":null,"party":"I","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nDavid Velarde is the independent candidate for Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 11 in the August 6, 2026 general election, running against Republican Garrett Holt and Democrat Vivian Underwood Shipe [1]. He did not participate in the Knox News in-person candidate interviews and disclosed using AI assistance to organize his research and writing [1]. His platform centers on seniors: affordable senior-housing development, a public inventory of genuinely affordable senior-living units, senior transportation access outside city limits, and emergency-response times in rural and fast-growing districts [1]. He measures success by whether \"working families can afford safe housing for aging parents without financial hardship,\" and campaigns on \"Results, not slogans.\" [1]\n\n## Career\nVelarde is a podiatrist (Doctor of Podiatric Medicine) with more than 25 years of practice in Knoxville and East Tennessee [1][2]. He earned his DPM from Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine in Miami in 1996, took over Dr. Barry Ritchie's practice in 2004, and is the sole podiatrist at Advanced Foot Care Center [2].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Knox County Commission At-Large Seat 11 voter's guide (Knox News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/knox-county-commission-large-seat-080720824.html) - accessed 2026-07-23\n[2] [Dr. David Velarde DPM - Advanced Foot Care Center (practice site)](https://knoxvillefootdoctor.com/) - accessed 2026-07-23","firstname":"David","lastname":"Velarde","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"2D6Vfc3Nx2"},"token":"david_velarde"}],"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_11","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 11"}