Look who is running for Mayor and Metro Council (update #2)

These are the people running for Mayor or assumed to be running for Mayor:

• Megan Barry, very liberal Council-member-at-large.  link
• Charles Robert Bone, an attorney (link)
• Linda Rebrovick,  Consensus Point president and CEO. May be a Republican. link
• Kenneth Eaton owner of Eaton's Used Cars and other business interest. He is a Republican.
• Howard Gentry, former Vice Mayor, former candidate for Mayor who came close, African-American, husband of Sharon Gentry, chairman of the School Board.
• Jeremy Kane, CEO and President of Leed Academy  link
• David Fox, a former Tennessean business reporter,  former Titan Advisor, former school board member. He may be a Republican  link.  link.  
• David Freeman, local businessman and major fund raiser for the Democratic party. 
• Jerry Maynard, currently a Councilman-at-large.

These are people who were once thought to be running for Mayor who have said they are not: 

• Daron Hall, the Sheriff
• William F. Carpenter III, Chairman and CEO of LifePoint Hospitals. (link) 

These are people I wish were running for Mayor, but have no indication they are. (If you know any of them, maybe you can encourage them to run):

• Lee Beaman, Owner of Beaman automotive companies and other business interest. Republican.
• Charlie Tygard, currently a term-limited Councilman-at-large. He knows Metro Government and he is fiscally conservative. He is a Republican. 

I did have on the above list the name of Tim Garrett and Emily Evans. I received nice comments from each of them. Tim Garrett said he had decided to pursue the office of Vice Mayor and Emily Evans said "my final campaign will be dedicated not to me but to what I think is an important change to the Metro Charter." 

This is who is running for Vice Mayor:

• Tim Garrett, Councilman-at-large and former state representative.  He is in the funeral home business. I know he is a Democrat, but he is a reasonable, fiscally conservative Democrat and a very nice guy with a depth of knowledge about Nashville. The job of Vice Mayor is to conduct Council meetings and to appoint the members of Council to committees.  It is a fine balance between running efficient meetings and stifling debate.  I think Garrett will strike the right balance.  I think he will be fair and thoughtful in making committee assignments. I know at this point, not knowing who else is running it may be early to make an endorsement but I would discourage anyone else from entering the race. Tim Garrett would make a great Vice Mayor.

These are people who have said they are running for Council-at-large or assumed to be running: 

• Karen Bennett, currently represents a Council District and is a member of the Republican Party State Executive Committee. 
• Ken Jakes, he owns a produce company and is a citizen activist who has often exposed government waste and corruption. 
• Robert Duvall, currently a district councilman, term limited out, former unsuccessful candidate for the State House, and current Chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party.
• Duane Dominy, currently a district councilman, term limited out, former unsuccessful candidate for the State House.  He is a good Republican and lead the fight to save the fairgrounds.
• Eugene Batsuk. He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Davidson County Democrat Party. (link)
•  Don Majors, who has been working in constituent services for Rep. Jim Cooper, is leaving that position to run for council. He previously represented the Maplewood area in the 90s and early aughts.

These are the people who are running for a District council seats or are rumored to be running for District Council seats: 

• Stephen Clements, District 7, a Republican who heads the Caffeinated Conservatives group.
• William Cyril Guthoerl, District 11. The incumbent is attorney Larry Hagar who was elected to this seat in a special election in August 2014. In a three man race Hagar won 57% of  vote and Guthoerl won 25% of the vote.  It will be difficult to unseat an incumbent unless he does something to disappoint a lot of people. I supported Guthoerl in two previous races, however, I am going to wait to see how Hagar does before endorsing in the 11th.  
• Jim Garrett in District 15. (not announced)
• Jeff Syracuse  in District 15. (link) 
• Larry Weakley,  District 17
• Freddie O'Connell, District 19, President of the Salemtown Neighborhood Association, board member of Walk Bike Nashville
• Melissa Smithson,  District 28 (link)
• Lonnie Spivak, District 35, a Republican and a former Republican primary candidate for the 5th Congressional district.

Below is the current Council list. "Termed-out" means they have served two terms and are not eligible to run again:

METRO ELECTED OFFICIALS

Italics indicate termed limited.

OFFICE	INCUMBENT	Who is Termed-out
Mayor	Karl Dean	Termed
Vice-mayor and President	Diane Neighbors	Termed
COUNCIL
At-large	Megan Barry	Termed
At-large	Ronnie Stein	Termed
At-large	Tim Garrett	Termed
At-large	Charlie Tygard	Termed
At-large	Jerry Maynard	Termed
Districts		Termed
1	Lonnell Mathews, Jr.	Termed
2	Frank Harrison	Termed
3	Walter hunt	Termed
4	Brady Banks
5	Scott Davis
6	Peter Westerholm
7	Anthony Davis
8	Karen Bennett	Termed
9	Bill  Pridemore
10	Doug Pardue
11	Larry Hager
12	Steve Glover
13	Josh Stites
14	Bruce Stanley	Termed
15	Phil Claiborne	Termed
16	Tony Tenpenny
17	Sandra Moore	Termed
18	Burkley Allen
19	Erica Gilmore	Termed
20	Buddy Baker	Termed
21	Edith Lancaster	Termed
22	Shreri Weiner
23	Emily Evans	Termed
24	Jason Holleman	Termed
25	Sean McGuire	Termed
26	Chris Harmon
27	Davette Blalock
28	Duane A. Dominy	Termed
29	Karen Y. Johnson
30	Jason Potts
31	Fabian Bedne
32	Jacobia Dowell
33	Robert Duvall	Termed
34	Carter Todd	Termed
35	Bo Mitchell

This is a work in progress and I will be updating from time to time when new information becomes available. There are probably some candidates for Mayor or the Metro Council that I inadvertently left off of this list.  If there is an obvious candidate I failed to add to this list, please let me know. 

If you are a candidate, please be sure to send me your announcements and press releases.

Readers of this blog should not assume that because I post news of a campaign event or a press release from a candidate, that that constitutes an endorsement of that candidate. If I endorse someone, I will make it clear. 

My endorsements are highlighted in red. I may not make an endorsement in every race, as I may not have enough information to make an informed decision in each race. For Mayor and Councilman-at-large races, I want to know who all is running before I make a decision of who I am supporting. Winnability is a factor in who I support as well as experience and philosophy of government. 


When it comes to recommendations for Councilmen-at-large, while one may vote for up to five candidates to fill five slots, I often vote for only one candidate rather than dilute my vote. I would find it difficult not to vote for Duvall or Dominy if they run however, so I am endorsing Jakes, Duvall and Dominy.  I am holding off on endorsing other candidates until I see the full list of who is running and look at some data to see who can mount a serious challenge and some other factors. Any candidate who gets 20% of the vote for a Council-at-large seat gets elected without a runoff and those top vote getters who get less than 20% will face a runoff. The election is August 2015 with a run-off in November 2015.

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