According to The Scene and The Tennessean, this is who is running for Mayor: Barry, Todd, Kane, Johnson, Bone, Brunson, Freeman, Hall......

The Crowded Field Circling the Mayor's Race 
The Nashville Scene,  by Steven Hale, Fri, Jan 17, 2014 - Among the hundreds of people crammed into West End Middle School for last night's public meeting on Mayor Karl Dean's proposed bus rapid transit project, The Amp, were several people with an eye on his job. (link)

Race for Nashville mayor gets interesting
The Tennessean, by Bruce Dobbie, Jan. 18, 2014 - The mayor’s race to succeed Karl Dean just got a whole lot more interesting. Four additional Nashvillians are considering entering the contest. All of them are smart and accomplished. All could run credible races. To date none has been mentioned in local media as a potential candidate. (link)

Read the two above articles to get an insight into the race for Mayor. According to the two articles and other sources, here are the leading contenders:

• Megan Barry,  At-Large Council member. She is considered the most "progressive" of the field.
• Carter Todd, Metro councilman representing Green Hills area and until recently was general counsel and vice president at Gaylord Entertainment. He is the only Republican in the field that I know of.
• Jeremy Kane, former CEO of LEAD Public Schools. I don't know much about any of these candidates yet, but being from a charter school background would be a plus in my consideration given the anti-charter position of our public school director and school board.
• Torry Johnson, District Attorney, who recently announced he is not seeking reelection to that post.
• Charles Robert Bone, general counsel of the Convention Center Authority. He is very active in the Democrat Party.
• Stuart Brunson, chairman/CEO of Aid & Assist At Home, a provider of home care to seniors and the disabled. He served as deputy governor under Phil Bredesen.
• Michael Burcham, President/CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center.
• David Fox, former School Board chairman.
• Bill Freeman, Real Estate Investor.
• Sheriff Daron Hall
• Jerry Maynard, at-large Councilman and the only African-American in the race. 

I am sure there are others who are thinking about entering the race. I would like to throw out three names of people I would like to see throw their hat in the ring:

• Tim Garrett, Councilman at-large and former state representative. He is a Democrat but considered  a more conservative Democrat. He is fair-minded, likable, fiscally responsible, has a wealth of knowledge and is capable. 
• Charlie Tygard, Councilman at-large. He is a Republican, has served on the Council a long time and is fiscally conservative. Like Garrett, he has a depth of knowledge of Metro Nashville.
• Lee Beaman. I am not even sure he lives in Davidson County. Beaman is a wealthy businessman, owner of Beaman motors and Beaman bottling. He is active in civic affairs and has charisma and almost everyone who has been in Nashville for any time has bought a car at a Beaman dealership. 

If anyone is running for Mayor, send me your press releases.  If you have someone who you would like to see run or if I left a potential candidate's name off this list, please leave a comment. Also, who are you supporting and why?

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