Look who is running for Mayor and Council (update #5). A lot more candidates throw their hat into the ring.

This is my fifth update. Additions from the previous update are underlined. Deletions from the last update are simply deleted in most cases, but when a person was previously an announced candidate and has recently withdrawn, I have listed them but noted they have withdrawn and struck through their name.

"(T)" means the candidate has filed a treasurer's form. Candidates are not permitted to begin raising money until this form is filed.
"(D1)" means the candidate has filed a campaign disclosure. Candidates who did not appoint a treasure prior to January 15 were not required to file a campaign disclosure.

Please pay attention to "link."  That will take you to the candidates website or news items about the candidate. If you are a candidate and I missed your website or Facebook page and you would like it listed, please send me the link.

Where I have made endorsements, the candidates name is bold and in red typeface. I will be making more endorsements as time goes on but 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. I will be making a modest campaign contribution to those whom I endorse.

Below are the people running for Mayor:

• Megan Barry, progressive Council-member-at-large. (T)(D1)  (link)
• Charles Robert Bone, an attorney (T)(D1) (link)
• Linda Rebrovick, Consensus Point president and CEO. A Republican. (T)(D1) (link)
• Kenneth Eaton, owner of Eaton's Used Cars and other business interest. He is a Republican. (T)(D1) (link)
• Jeremy Kane, CEO and President of Lead Academy (T)(D1) (link)David Fox, a former Tennessean business reporter, former Titan Advisor, former school board member. He is assumed to be a Republican and has a Republican campaign team. (T)(D1) ( link. link). 
• David Freeman, local businessman and major fund raiser for the Democratic party.(T)(D1)
• Howard Gentry, former Vice Mayor, came in third when running for mayor in 2007. The only African-American in the race. Currently serves as Davidson County Criminal Court clerk. (T)
  

There are other people who were once thought to be running for Mayor or who some people hoped would run, but who have since said they are not running or whom we may assume are not running if they have not declared by now.  These once-potential mayoral candidates include the following: Daron Hall, William F. Carpenter III, Jerry Maynard, Ronnie Stein, Lee Beaman, Charlie Tygard, Emily Evans. and Tim Garrett.

Tim Garrett

This is who is running for Vice Mayor:

• Tim Garrett, Councilman-at-large and former state representative. He is in the funeral home business. 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. With so many good people leaving the council, we need someone with institutional knowledge in the Council. Tim Garrett will be a great vice mayor. (T)(D1) (link)
• David Briley, grandson of former Mayor Beverly Briley, an attorney with Bone McAllester

  

  Ken Jakes

  Norton, former candidate for mayor. (T)(D1) (link)

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

• Eugene Batsuk. He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Davidson County Democrat Party. (T)(D1) (link) This candidate has withdrawn. He is not running.
• Karen Bennett, currently represents a Council District and is a member of the Republican Party State Executive Committee. (T) (link)
• Renard Francois. He is an attorney, he serves on Metropolitan Social Services Commission and he is a previous candidate for Council-at-large. He is African-American. (T) (link) This candidate is no longer running. He has withdrawn.
• Walter Hunt. He is currently serving as the Councilman from District 3, he is a retired substitute teacher and served in a high level  capacity in the Boner administration and is a

  

  Duane Dominy

  member of the Davidson County Democratic Party executive committee. He is African-American. (T)(D1). (link)
• Ken Jakes, he owns a produce company and is a citizen activist who has often exposed government waste and corruption.  He has previously sought the position, garnering the most votes other than the five incumbents. (T)(D1) link,  (link to everything ever published in this blog about Ken Jakes and learn of his work for honest and open government.)  
• John Lasiter. He previously served in the Council represented District 18 in 2007. He is openly gay. (T)(D1) link, link,  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. (T)(D1) (link)
• Lonnell Mathews, Jr., currently representing District 1 and termed out. He is African American. (link) (T)(D1)
• Bob Mendes, an attorney, chairs the board of Nashville Electric Service. (link)  
• Jim Shulman. (T)(D1)
•  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

  

  Robert Duvall

  candidate for the State House.  He is a good Republican and lead the fight to save the fairgrounds. 

Below are the people who are running for a District council seats or who may be running for District Council seats and any links to there websites other information. Incumbents are not included in this list. See the chart following this list for information on incumbents.

• Ruby Baker, District 1, (T)(D1)
• Lioniel Green, District 1, (T) Former officer in US Army, served in Iraq, on the board of the charter school Purpose Prep and Northwest YMCA. (link)
  
• Carrie Searcy, District 2 (T) (D1)
• Bobby Stockard, District 2 (T) 
• Decosta Hastings, District 2 (T)
• Danavan Hylton,  District 2 (T)
• Melvin Black, District 2 (T)(D1) 
• Brenda Haywood, District 3 (T)
• Joseph Zerbee, District 5 (T) (D1)
•  Brett A. Withers, District 6, (T)
• Stephen Clements, District 7, a Republican who heads the Caffeinated Conservatives group, works for the State of Tennessee, former Army officer, active in Madison Now and other civic affairs. (T)(D1) link
• Nancy VanReece, District 8, (T)
• Ramona Gholston, District 8, (T)
• Chris Swann, District 8, (T)
• Robert Sawyers,Sr., District 8 (T)
• 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. So far, on the few controversial votes Hager has voted the right way. Gutherl has not yet appointed a Treasure. I spoke to him recently and he said  he is still considering running. I discouraged him.
• Kevin Rhoten, District 14, a former Tennessee state attorney and legislative liaison in Gov. Pill Bredesen's administration. (T)(D1)
• Jim Garrett in District 15. (not announced) He has not yet appointed a treasure. 
• Jeff Syracuse in District 15. (T)(D1) (link) 
• Christopher Cotton, District 17 (T)
  
• Larry Weakley, District 17 (T)(D1) No longer a candidate. 
• Colby Sledge, District 17, a community activist, public relations professional with McNeely,

  

  Jim Roberts

  Piggott and Fox and former employee of the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus.(link) (T)(D1)
• Paula Foster, District 17. She is endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. She is practicing privately as a clinical social work supervisor and therapist as well as a practicing faculty member for the Vanderbilt School of Nursing. She lives with her "wife." (link)(T)(D1)
• Freddie O'Connell, District 19, President of the Salemtown Neighborhood Association, board member of Walk Bike Nashville. (link) (T) 
•  Bill Shick, District 19, an attorney, member of the Tennessee Democratic Party's executive committee. (link) (T)(D1)
• Brian Mason, District 19, He is, a Republican and an international business consultant. He recently ran for the State Legislature 
• Marisa Frank, District 20 (T)
• Frank Stabile, District 20 (T)
• Leah Dupree, District 21 (T)
• Edward Kindal, District 21(T)
• Thom Druffel, District 23 (link) (link) (T)
• Mina Johnson, District 23 (T)
• Timothy Lee, District 23, (T) Tim Lee is a Republican and a former candidate for the state house. I like both Tim Lee and Jim Roberts in this race, however, I have already committed to Jim Roberts and am supporting his candidacy.
• Jim Roberts, District 23, former Republican candidate for Chancery Court Judge.(link)
• Allen Grant, District 24 (T) (D1)
• Kathleen Murphy, District 24. She is a government lobbyist and active in Democrat Party politics. (T)(D1)
• Jan Stinston, District 25 (T)(D1) No longer a candidate. 
• Russ Pulley, District 25 (T) (D1)
• Jeremy Elrod, District 26 (T)
• Gary Clement Ledbetter, Jr., District 27 (T)
• Melissa Smithson, District 28 (link) (T)(D1)
• Tanaka Vercher, District 28 (link) (T)
• Williams Kissie, District 32 (T) (D1)
• Sam Coleman, District 33, (T) former Councilman,
• Jimmy Gafford, District 33, (T)
• Timothy H. Herndon, District 33, (T)
• Steve Butler, District 34 (link) (T) (D1)
• Angie Henderson, District 34 (link) (T)(D1)
• Lonnie Spivak, District 35,(T)(D1) a Republican and a former Republican primary candidate for the 5th

  

  Lonnie Spivak

  Congressional district. (link)
• Vic Lineweaver, District 35, (T) Lineweaver is a former Metro Councilman who went on to be elected Juvenile Court Clerk and extreme mismanaged the office. He was once arrested for failing to provide client files to the court. He was filmed by a local news station in his driveway getting his newspaper while on the phone claiming to be at work. Lineweaver lost his re-election bid. He has been trying to get back into politics every since.  (Lineweaver arrested by Juvenile Court officers) (link)
• Dave Rosenberg, District 35, (T)(D1) a supporter of State Rep. and Council member Bo Mitchel and a supporter of School Board member Amy Frogge. Those are two good reasons to vote against him. He has several Bellvue community involvements. (link)

Italics indicate termed limited. A strike through indicates they are not a candidate. 

OFFICE	INCUMBENT	Who is running for this seat (or may be)
Mayor	Karl Dean	See the list above
Vice-mayor and President	Diane Neighbors	Tim Garrett, David Briley
COUNCIL
At-large	Megan Barry	See the list above
At-large	Ronnie Stein
At-large	Tim Garrett
At-large	Charlie Tygard
At-large	Jerry Maynard
Districts
1	Lonnell Mathews, Jr.	Ruby Baker, Lioniel Green
2	Frank Harrison	Carrie Searcy, Bobby Stockard,  Melvin Black, Decosta Hastings
3	Walter hunt	Brenda Haywood
4	Brady Banks  **
5	Scott Davis	Joseph Zerbee
6	Peter Westerholm (T) (D1)	Brett A. Withers
7	Anthony Davis	Stephen Clements
8	Karen Bennett	Nancy VanReece, Chris Swann, Robert Sawyers,Sr
9	Bill  Pridemore (T)
10	Doug Pardue
11	Larry Hager (T)	William Cyril Guthoerl
12	Steve Glover
13	Josh Stites    *
14	Bruce Stanley	Kevin Rhoten
15	Phil Claiborne	Jim Garrett, Jeff Syracuse,
16	Tony Tenpenny
17	Sandra Moore	Larry Weakley, Colby Sledge, Paula Foster, Christopher Cotton
18	Burkley Allen (T)
19	Erica Gilmore	Freddie O'Connell, Bill Shick, Brian Mason
20	Buddy Baker	Marisa Frank, Frank Stabile
21	Edith Lancaster	Leah Dupree,  Edward Kindal
22	Sheri Weiner (T) (D1)
23	Emily Evans	Jim Roberts, Timothy Lee, Thom Druffel, Mina Johnson
24	Jason Holleman	Allen Grant, Kathleen Murphy
25	Sean McGuire	Jan Stinston, Russ Pulley
26	Chris Harmon	Jeremy Elrod,
27	Davette Blalock (T) (D1)	Gary Clement Ledbetter,Jr.
28	Duane A. Dominy	Melissa Smithson, Tanaka Vercher
29	Karen Y. Johnson (T)
30	Jason Potts (T)
31	Fabian Bedne (T) (D1)
32	Jacobia Dowell (T)	Williams Kissie
33	Robert Duvall	Sam Coleman, Jimmy Gafford Timothy H. Herndon
34	Carter Todd	Angie Henderson, Steve Butler
35	Bo Mitchell	Lonnie Spivak, Dave RosenbergVic Lineweaver

  * Josh Stites is one of the more conservative members of the Council. I regret he is not seeking reelection. 

** Banks had been considered a rising star in Nashville's progressive circles when elected in 2011, but then was arrested for soliciting a prostitute.  The charge was dismissed after he completed the "john school" offered to first-time offenders.  Banks has consistently supported the Dean administration's agenda. 

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, press releases, position papers and website links. 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.


Important Dates:

• February 2nd was the financial report filing deadline for those who had appointed a treasurer by January 15, 2015. Metro financial reports are not available online.
• February 20th  is the date candidates may pick up qualifying petitions.
• Candidate qualifying deadline - Noon, Thursday, May 21
• Withdrawal deadline - Noon, Thursday, May 28 (Candidate must withdraw in writing)
• Election Day - Thursday, August 6

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