On Friday, August 25, Early Voting Begins, and on Saturday, September 9 Early Voting Ends for the September 14 Metropolitan Runoff Election. The top two vote-getters in the race for Mayor will square off in a runoff election. In the recent August 3 election, the incumbent Vice-mayor was ousted. In the Council At-Large contest, one candidate was elected outright and will be sworn in along with four out of eight who are on the current ballot. All but three of the 35 council districts elected a representative, while runoffs will be held in districts 4, 11 and 29. There will also be a Special General Election on that ballot in Tennessee House of Representatives District 51 for an unexpired term.
In the race for Mayor, the contest was essentially a Democratic Primary as the lone Republican on the ballot, Alice Rolli, garnered enough votes (20,458) to compete for the position. All of the other 11 candidates are identified as Democrats, although the election is not conducted along party lines, and party affiliations are not on the ballot. Freddie O’Connell (with 27,470 votes) will advance to seek the city’s highest office
The top four vote-getters will be elected among the eight candidates for the At-Large seats — Burkley Allen, Chris Cheng, Quin Evans-Segall, Olivia Hill, Howard Jones, Delishia Danielle Porterfield, Russ Pulley, and Jeff Syracuse. Candidates in Council District 4 are Davette Blalock and Mike Cortese; in District 11, Jeff Eslick and Eric A. Patton; and in District 29, Tasha Ellis and John Reed. TN House District 51 is among Republican David C. Hooven, Democrat Aftyn Behn, and independent Annabelle Lee.
As I said last month in previewing the August election and it is still — and maybe even more — true, “There may never have been a more urgent time for Nashvillians to participate in the electoral process than right now. This year has seen major assaults upon the integrity and autonomy of the city of Nashville and Davidson County by the Republican supermajority in the Tennessee legislature.
“They have attempted to overstep their authority by gerrymandering statewide and succeeded in carving up the 5th U.S. congressional district, so that now the state is represented in Congress by eight Republicans and only ONE Democrat. They hold both of our state’s seats in the US Senate. They hold a 27-6 majority in the State Senate, and a 75-24 majority in the State House of Representatives. Also they are seeking to control the Metro Council by cutting it in half, and are trying to take away the local control of our airport.”
And now, should one of theirs win as Nashville Mayor, they will totally and completely control everything. This cannot abide, as it will be an affront to democracy.
Please check your voting status, and get out to vote in this crucial Runoff election. We need a strong Mayor and council and others who will resist this odious trend in government, as witnessed by the expulsion of Justin Jones and Justin Pearson.
You can Confirm your Voter Registration anytime, 24/7, free, in one minute, on your phone, at: tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup
And get your sample ballot at: nashville.gov/departments/elections
