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Elections in Tennessee |
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The 2023 Nashville mayoral election took place on August 3, 2023, to elect the next mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic Mayor John Cooper did not seek re-election to a second term in office. [2] A wide field of candidates ran to succeed Cooper, with Democratic metro councilmember Freddie O'Connell and Republican political consultant Alice Rolli advancing to the runoff because no candidate surpassed 50% of the vote. In the runoff election, O'Connell was elected with 63.9% of the vote, defeating Rolli and becoming the 10th mayor of metro Nashville. [3]
O'Connell was considered one of the more progressive figures in Nashville politics and is known for his vocal opposition to the use of public funds to build the Nissan Stadium. [4] Rolli is a businesswoman who has worked for numerous prominent Tennessee Republicans in the past, including governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander. [5]
Rolli was considered an underdog in the runoff due to her status as a Republican in a heavily Democratic city. In the 60 years since the city of Nashville was consolidated with Davidson County in 1963, it has never elected a Republican mayor. [5] Democrat Joe Biden won the city with 64.5% of the vote in the 2020 presidential election. [6]
All Nashville municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, but candidates can be affiliated with a political party.
Candidate | Experience | Party Affiliation | Announced | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Freddie O'Connell | Metro councilmember from the 19th district since 2015 | Democratic [7] | April 28, 2022![]() Website | [8] |
![]() Alice Rolli | Former aide to governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander | Republican [7] | February 24, 2023![]() Website | [9] |
Candidate | Experience | Party Affiliation | Announced | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Natisha Brooks | Educator Candidate for Tennessee's 5th congressional district in 2022 | Republican [10] | February 20, 2023![]() Website | [10] |
![]() Fran Bush | Former member of the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board (2018–2022) | Independent [7] | February 17, 2023![]() Website | [11] |
![]() Heidi Campbell | State senator from the 20th district since 2021 Nominee for Tennessee's 5th congressional district in 2022 | Democratic [12] | April 5, 2023![]() Website | [12] |
![]() Bernie Cox | Business owner Candidate for mayor in 2019 | Republican [7] | ![]() Website | [7] |
![]() Sharon Hurt | At-Large metro councilmember since 2015 | Democratic [7] | December 5, 2022![]() Website [ usurped ] | [13] |
![]() Stephanie Johnson | Business owner | Independent | May 1, 2023![]() Website | [14] |
![]() Vivian Wilhoite | Davidson County Property Assessor since 2016 | Democratic [15] | May 2, 2023![]() Website | [16] |
![]() Matt Wiltshire | Former Nashville Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency chief strategy officer | Democratic [7] | July 13, 2022![]() Website | [17] |
![]() Jeff Yarbro | Former Minority Leader of the Tennessee Senate (2019–2023) State senator from the 21st district since 2015 | Democratic [7] | February 17, 2023![]() Website | [18] |
Candidate | Experience | Party Affiliation | Announced | Withdrew | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Jim Gingrich | Former AllianceBernstein chief operating officer | Democratic [7] | February 8, 2023![]() Website | July 17, 2023 | [19] [20] |
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Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Fran Bush | Heidi Campbell | Jim Gingrich | Sharon Hurt | Freddie O'Connell | Alice Rolli | Vivian Wilhoite | Matt Wiltshire | Jeff Yarbro | Other/ Undecided |
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VictoryPhones (R) [44] [a] | July 25–27, 2023 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 0.8% | 5.9% | – | 3.6% | 25.4% | 18.8% | 3.4% | 14.6% | 13.1% | 14.5% |
GBAO Strategies (D) [45] [b] | July 17–19, 2023 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.4% | – | 8% | – | 6% | 21% | 13% | 4% | 10% | 12% | 25% |
Gingrich withdraws from the race | |||||||||||||
Music City Research [46] [c] | July 5–6, 2023 | 502 (LV) | ± 4.2% | – | 7% | 4% | 3% | 20% | 13% | 3% | 15% | 6% | 30% |
Public Policy Polling (D) [47] [d] | June 2–4, 2023 | 400 (LV) | ± 4.2% | – | 8% | 3% | 7% | 10% | 4% | – | 8% | 9% | 51% [e] |
VictoryPhones (R) [48] [a] | May 2–4, 2023 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 2% | 21.9% | 4.2% | 6.7% | 15.6% | 4% | 3.2% | 6.6% | 17% | 18.8% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Hal Cato | John Cooper | Matt Wiltshire | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Impact Research [49] [f] | April 6–11, 2022 | 500 (LV) | ± 4.4% | 38% | 28% | 13% | 21% |
Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|
Freddie O'Connell | 27,503 | 27.14 | |
Alice Rolli | 20,472 | 20.20 | |
Matthew Wiltshire | 17,193 | 16.97 | |
Jeff Yarbro | 12,356 | 12.19 | |
Heidi Campbell | 8,337 | 8.23 | |
Sharon Hurt | 6,104 | 6.02 | |
Vivian Willhoite | 4,758 | 4.70 | |
Jim Gingrich | 1,668 | 1.65 | |
Natisha Brooks | 1,458 | 1.44 | |
Stephanie Johnson | 581 | 0.57 | |
Fran Bush | 503 | 0.50 | |
Bernie Cox | 322 | 0.32 | |
Write-in | 80 | 0.07 | |
Total votes | 101,335 | 100.00 |
Endorsements in bold were made after the first round.
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Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Freddie O'Connell | Alice Rolli | Other/ Undecided |
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Show Me Victories (D) [58] | August 11–16, 2023 | 430 (RV) | ± 3.8% | 58% | 40% | 2% |
Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|
Freddie O'Connell | 72,989 | 63.85 | |
Alice Rolli | 41,205 | 36.04 | |
Write-in | 123 | 0.11 | |
Total votes | 114,317 | 100.00 |
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Metro Councilmember Bob Mendes said Monday that he'd stay out of this August's nonpartisan primary for mayor.
Official campaign websites