Kane, real name Glenn Jacobs, is trading his wrestling tights for a new job — mayor!
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The former WWF Champion won the mayoral campaign for Knox County in Tennessee, defeating Linda Haney with 67 percent of the vote to 33 percent.
“I’m just really happy, it’s been a lot of work,” Jacobs told the local NBC affiliate shortly after the race was called. “I thank my family and all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this happen.”
Multiple camera crews, including one from the WWE, were in attendance for the election night party.
“It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it? And that’s the thing I think someone like me brings to a race like this, is the fact that because of who I am I can put Knox County in a positive light nationally,” he continued. “And I think that’s great, there’s so many great things our county, our area has to offer. And frankly the rest of the country needs to know about it.”
Jacobs went on to give a passionate victory speech on Thursday evening.
“When I announced that I was going to run for mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, unfortunately among the political establishment it was met with pretty resounding laughter,” Jacobs said. “That a professional wrestler could think that he could be mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. And if anything what that did, was that made me… that made me want it even more.
“… Normally I don’t use professional wrestling analogies for the campaign, but this professional wrestler got into a no holds barred, last man standing match and when the bell rung, he was victorious!
“The Devil’s Favorite Demon” announced he was running for mayor in March 2017 as a republican. His last appearance in the WWE came in July when he reunited with Daniel Bryan to take on The Bludgeon Brothers at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.
While he’ll likely not be on WWE programming during his term as mayor, Kane didn’t rule out the possibility.
“I never rule anything out,” Jacobs told Pro Wrestling Sheet back in June. “I think it would be great to have a PPV here in Knoxville. We haven’t had one in forever. If there’s a PPV, it would be an honor for me to take part in that.”
Numerous wrestling stars and fans publicly congratulated him on his victory.
“Congratulations to (Kane) on being elected Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee!” the WWE’s official Twitter account wrote shortly after the news broke.
“Myself and the Mayor of Knox County, TN were once the WWE World Tag-Team Champions,” Shane Helms wrote, referencing he and Kane’s tag team championship run.
