Breaking News

Kane is 1 step closer to running Knox County, Tennessee ... 'cause the WWE legend won the primary Mayoral election Tuesday ... and is now expected to be elected Mayor this summer.

Glenn Jacobs, aka Kane, first announced he was running for the gig last year -- a big job in a county with over 450k people -- and stumped hard til the very end ... hitting up several schools with campaign signs in hand earlier today.

Jacobs took down 2 other republican politicians in the hotly contested race -- including Bob Thomas ... who played radio host Slammin' Sammy in the "Friday Night Lights" movie.

Kane declared victory Tuesday night, but it was a VERY close race ... it reportedly came within less than 20 votes.

Tuesday's election night win all but guarantees Kane will become mayor when the general election rolls around in August ... 'cause Knox County almost always votes Republican.