Berke easily wins reelection as Chattanooga mayor

Former state Sen. Andy Berke easily won a new term as mayor of Chattanooga in a city election Tuesday, reports the Times-Free Press.

Voters cast 11,991 ballots in favor of Berke’s bid for re-election, sweeping aside Councilman Larry Grohn to a distant second with 4,941 votes, followed by former three-time city councilman David Crockett and architectural consultant Chris Long. Crockett and Long mustered 1,438 and 407 votes, respectively. The race also generated 95 write-in votes, although no write-in candidates have been certified.

“We’ve seen this city move forward over the last four years,” Berke said. “Clearly, people want us to build on the improvements we’ve made to public safety, economic development and investing in our young people. We’ve received a mandate to continue to push forward.”

Grohn said his campaign workers believed they had run the best race they could run, but that’s not the end of the story.

“We will continue to work towards a better Chattanooga in whatever ways we are led to do,” he said. “I congratulate Mayor Berke and certainly hope he fulfills the campaign promises he made.”