Election 2026: Three seek to lead the city of Clinton

September 2, 2026

With the Nov. 3 election approaching, The Courier News is beginning its election coverage by introducing voters to the candidates seeking to lead the city of Clinton.

Three candidates are running for mayor, and The Courier News asked each to respond to questions about leadership, growth, economic development and the city’s priorities for the next four years.

The first five questions were identical for all three candidates.

The final question was tailored to distinguish between the incumbent’s case for continuing the city’s current direction and the challengers’ case for a change in leadership.

To give candidates the opportunity to speak directly to voters, their responses are being published unedited.

The questions posed were:



1. LEADERSHIP: Why are you running for mayor and what expertise do you possess to hold the office?

2. Economic Development: Clinton has invested heavily in downtown improvements and the results are just beginning to show with new businesses opening.

How would you encourage economic development outside of the downtown area while protecting the character of Clinton and ensuring that growth does not overburden roads, utilities and other city services?

3. Standards: Clinton recently imposed a moratorium involving data-center development while city officials consider how such projects should be regulated.

What standards should Clinton establish for data centers and other large industrial developments, particularly concerning power and water use, noise, traffic and their overall benefit to residents?

4. Priorities: If elected, what would be your top three priorities for Clinton during the next four years, how would you pay for them, and what measurable results should voters use at the end of your term to determine whether you succeeded?

5. GROWTH: Clinton has commercial and industrial development near the interstate, and residential growth is also occurring in that area.

How should the city plan for and invest in the infrastructure, fire protection, utilities, high-speed internet and other services needed to support continued growth?

6. For Davis and McNally: What is the strongest argument for changing leadership at City Hall, and what would you say to voters who believe Clinton needs a new direction?

For Mayor Burton: What is the strongest argument for keeping the current leadership at City Hall, and what would you say to voters who believe Clinton is moving in the right direction and should not change course?

Scott Burton

Incumbent



Leadership: It’s been an honor serving as the Mayor of Clinton – a friendly and loving community that I have called home my entire life. As your Mayor, I have led the effort to pay off our debt – by managing our budget wisely and focusing on the services residents want. Not only are we debt free but we have the lowest tax rate in decades. In addition to the financial experience, I believe it is important to have a Mayor who is fair and compassionate. A good Mayor should be a facilitator who can bring the community together to achieve results. I believe I have provided those skills and look forward to building on our recent successes.

Economic Development: Clinton has a beautiful, and historic downtown. As the central gathering place of our community, it is important that we maintain and highlight its character. That’s really true for the rest of Clinton as well. Clinton is a special place because of its people. We have to look at growth through the lens of how it impacts our people.

TCAT and Roane State have done a fantastic job providing training and workforce development. With our low tax rate and high quality of life, Clinton is an attractive place for people or businesses to locate.

Whether it is investments in infrastructure or quality of life improvements like our community center, I will always fight to ensure our residents are at the center of decisions around growth and development.



Standards: I was fully supportive of the moratorium around data centers. The issue of data centers is a new topic, and I think it is important we learn more and understand their role in our economy, but with the information I have today and the way they have been presented in other communities, I do not think they belong in the city limits of Clinton.



Priorities: Over the next 4 year, I will focus my attention on 3 key priorities:

1. Keeping Taxes Low: by paying off the City’s debt and prioritizing spending on critical public services, we have cut our tax rate to its lowest level in decades.

2. The City exists to provide quality services to our residents. From public safety and schools to recreational opportunities. I will continue to focus on making sure Clinton residents receive high-quality services for their tax dollars.

3. Protect What Makes Clinton Great: Clinton is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. With great people, history, and values. We need to protect what makes Clinton a great place to live.

At the end of the next 4 years, if you can look around and say you’re proud of your community, we’ve provided excellent value for your tax dollars, and your taxes continue to be some of the lowest in the state, I will have done my job.



GROWTH: Because the commercial development is there, much of the basic infrastructure has been in place in the area for years.

If we see continued growth, we’ll monitor the need for any changes or additional infrastructure needs that may come up.



For Mayor Burton: Cities exist, at their core, to collect money from the community and provide shared services for that money. In Clinton, we collect less per resident than nearly any other city in the state. Yet, I think we provide good value for that investment.

We have a high-quality school system. We have respected police and fire departments that keep our community safe. We create and maintain parks and a community center, as well as take care of the everyday services residents count on such as roads, sidewalks, and trash collection.

Over the last 4 years, we’ve invested in our community center, our downtown infrastructure, and seen new and improved recreational opportunities.

While I’m proud of the work we have accomplished, I’m running because I believe we can do more.







Delanie Davis

Challenger



Leadership: My run for Mayor actually started three years ago and I didn’t know it. I was told I couldn’t keep chickens in the city limits. Since mine had just began laying I decided to go to battle for them. My four year old, at the time, helped me collect 200 signatures on our chicken petition, and I spoke at a couple city council meetings. You can now have 6 hens in the city limits! Then after facing some health issues and looking into the technology that CUB had started implementing and littering our town with, I started going to the board meetings over there and fighting to make things better for us all. The outcome of all that work was them saying that they are “autonomous” and in turn, answer to no one. So I began looking into the inner workings over there and uncovered way more questions than answers. Next, I took my concerns to city council and applied to sit on the board at CUB so we could have some accountability and representation for the members of the city, with no outside interest. Mayor Burton chose against giving me the job or taking their charter back under city control. So I gave both him and the board the same promise. I’ll do it myself! I learned a lot about both good and bad leadership, during my time in the Army. I believe I have the fight it takes to lead our city back in the right direction.



Economic Development: We need more citizen run business and for them to have priority on real estate over large corporations. That’s how we maintain the integrity of the town we all love so much. We have well known issues with intersections, the roads out of the industrial parks, and the quality of our water that should be addressed and corrected before we allow any more major developments to take place.



Standards: We have no need for Data Centers. I will do everything in my power to make sure we never get one!



Priorities: Flock Cameras are a 4th Amendment violation to our privacy. They need to come down and without replacing them with one of their competitors products. No Data Centers ever. Lastly, I want to see representation for the public on the utility boards, and EPA studies and reports done on our water and the technology they are slapping on our homes and down our streets. You’ll know I accomplished what I said I’d do when we no longer live under constant surveillance, don’t hear the constant noise of a data center, and the utility companies charters are back under the city’s control. We do own them and the land they are on after all.



GROWTH: Developers are responsible for the cost of infrastructure when they bring their plans for developments. It’s built into the sale of the land. Then they are given specifications to build to from the utility company. They can’t tie into the system unless these specifications are met and signed off on. They have the money to fund the infrastructure with the promise of all those new connections, but don’t. In 2024 the TNECD awarded $268 million in grant money for broadband internet. I feel we’re all pretty connected for now. However, the city does need to consider hiring more firemen to cover the extra developed area.



For Davis: Our current city mayor although a very good man, has sat in that seat for 17 years and counting. I believe term limits are set for a reason. We must also ask ourselves do we want a Mayor who is a current sitting board member at CUB as our Mayor. That’s a huge conflict of interest. Where do their loyalties lie? I’ve asked them both with no reply. My loyalties lie with the citizens and I’ve proven that by my track record of showing up and fighting for the last 3 years for free!









Stephen McNally

Challenger



Leadership: Clinton is my home and a community that has tremendous unrealized potential. I believe leadership should periodically pass to people who bring new ideas and energy. Professionally, I manage a complex program supporting the DoD, overseeing ~$20M and teams responsible for some of our nation’s most advanced technologies. I’ve worked at ORNL, own a small business, serve on community boards, coach our youth, and spent years serving this community. Those experiences have taught me how to manage people, budgets, infrastructure, and competing priorities while remaining accountable for results. Most importantly, I understand how to work with and listen to people when developing a vision and leading through periods of thoughtful change.



Economic Development: Growth should be intentional, not accidental. I want Clinton actively recruiting businesses that create good jobs, expand our tax base, and complement our community. Before approving developments, we should understand their effects on roads, traffic, utilities, public safety, schools, and surrounding neighborhoods. Development should help pay for the infrastructure demands it creates rather than shifting costs to citizens. Our goal should be growth that strengthens Clinton without sacrificing our identity. For more than a decade there have been ignored and neglected parts of town where businesses once thrived. It’s time we take a broader look across the city and begin to recruit businesses that the people of Clinton need.



Standards: Data centers can bring substantial investments, but their economic impact is very different from traditional industries employing hundreds of people. Clinton should create standards based on utility consumption, noise, traffic, environmental impact, emergency-service requirements, permanent job creation, and tax revenue. Most importantly, the long-term benefit should justify the resources and infrastructure being committed. I’m an advocate, first and foremost, for what’s best for Clinton and the people who live, work, and worship here.



Priorities: My priorities are stronger city services and infrastructure, responsible economic development, and greater transparency and community engagement. We should prioritize existing revenue, aggressively pursue state and federal grants, build public-private partnerships, and ensure new developments contribute appropriately toward the infrastructure they require. After four years, voters should ask: Are roads and infrastructure better? Are services (police, fire, public works, parks and recreation) stronger? Have we attracted quality jobs and investments? Is City Hall more transparent and responsive? And can residents clearly see what they received for their tax dollars?



GROWTH: We need to plan ahead rather than continually react to development. Clinton should create a long-range infrastructure plan for our growth corridors identifying future road capacity, fire protection, utilities, broadband, and emergency-service requirements. That plan should connect land-use decisions with infrastructure investments so residential, commercial, and industrial growth occur together responsibly. Development fees, grants, utility investments, and partnerships should help fund expansion so taxpayers aren’t asked to subsidize growth. I plan to seek input from the community through a new citizen-led “Clinton 2030” group who will be focused on areas of opportunity within our city so that we can plan for and execute toward that vision. Our current administration responds reactively and we need to plan for and execute proactively.



For McNally: The community suffers when leadership becomes comfortable maintaining the status-quo (what already exists). I strongly support term-limits and believe communities are best served by elected officials who know the office they hold has an expiration. Power and comfort replace results and accountability when someone occupies an office for too long. We see this when things start happening around election season, all of a sudden.

I’m asking voters to choose between maintaining the status quo versus thoughtfully building the Clinton we want our children to inherit. My commitment is simple, I promise to leave Clinton better than I found it so that our kids and grandkids will someday choose to plant their roots and raise their families here.