Just who are all of these people running for mayor

When you go to vote in the August 1st election, you will see a lot of candidates name's on the ballot of whom you have never heard.  Why do people put their name on the ballot who have zero chance of winning? I don't know. Maybe they are delusional and think they can win. Maybe they know they can't win but have a point of view that they want to express and running for office gives them a platform to be heard, at least by a few people. Maybe they have a big ego and get satisfaction by seeing their name on the ballot.

You will see some names that you have heard of but of whom you know very little.  It is a shame that so many people are elected by voters who just pull the lever for a person because he had a lot of yard signs.  It is a shame so many people are elected because they got the most votes from uninformed people.  If you have a strong political philosophy, and know you want to only vote for a Democrat or a Republican and there are only two choices, then party label can be a good guide for whom to vote. In the race for mayor and council, people do not run on party labels so a voter cannot be guided by party identity of the candidate. I tend to think that is a good thing. There are very few votes a member of the council cast where political affiliation would be an indication of how the council member would vote. There are no Democrat or Republican pot holes.

I am posting below the list of candidates for mayor. Next to each list I will provide links to the candidates website, Facebook page or blog or news stories about the candidate. For some of the candidates I will tell you what I know about them, or if I know nothing. If I have a favorite, I will let you know.  I plan to do the same for council races, but this may prove to take more effort than I want to give it. We'll see.

Candidates for Mayor

Jody Ball: He is a Republican and good sensible candidate but doesn't have a chance. The Republican vote will be split between Carol Swain and John Cooper and even if all Republican voted for one candidate that candidate could not win. Republicans are outnumbered about two to one in Davidson County.  Ball ran for the 5th Congressional District as a Republican and lost that November 6, 2018 election to incumbent Jim Cooper. Cooper beat Ball 67.8 percent to 32.2 percent but some of  the areas where Ball did best lay outside Davidson County. I like Ball but won't vote for him. I appreciate him carrying the banner and providing a token alternative to Cooper in the congressional election but why he thinks he can be elected mayor, I don't know. For more information see this link, Twitter feed, Jody Ball for Mayor.

Mayor David Briley

David Briley: He needs no introduction. As everyone knows he is the incumbent and is running for reelection. I am going to skip posting any links. You will hear his name a lot between now and the election and can learn more than you want to know about him without even trying. Just be aware that Nashville is a financial disaster and Briley has no plan to fix it. Metro is a mess and Briley needs to go.


Julia Marguerite Clark-Johnson: I never heard of her until now.  Here is the Tennessean profile piece from when she ran for mayor in 2018. In that election she got a total of only 168 votes.

John Ray Clemmons: He is a major candidate so I don't need to say much. He is currently a Democrat State Representative representing District 55.  There has been some speculation that he is not running to win but to increase name recognition in order to later challenge Steve Dickerson for his state senate seat. For more see, John Ray Clemmons for Mayor.

John Cooper

John Cooper:  I am supporting John Cooper.  He is a Democrat and the brother of Jim Cooper but in this case I am not going to hold that against him.  John Cooper may be the last sane Democrat left.  I watch almost every Council meeting and study the issues. I have been impressed with John Cooper ever since he began serving.  He has become an expert on Metro's finances. He knows Metro government like the back of his hand.  I don't know his views on building the wall or abortions or medicare for all or Agenda 21, and I don't much care.  Those are national issues. The most important issue facing us as voters for mayor is that we need to get our financial house in order and we need to select the person most qualified and committed to doing that. That is John Cooper.  Metro is the city in the nation with the highest debt per capita of any city.  Our police and fire are understaffed and Metro Schools are underfunded but we are not under taxed. Our local media would be focused on these issues if we had a mayor advocating a tax increase. There could be hysteria created if it served to advance an agenda. John Cooper knows what is wrong and has pledged to fix it. For more see John Cooper for Mayor.

Bernie Cox: He is a person with successes and recognition, apparently in the construction business and the entertainment business. He describes himself as conservative. This is apparently his first time running for office. Link.

Jimmy Lawrence: I can't find anything about him.

Jon Sewell: I can't find anything.

Nolan O.Starnes: He is African-American, has a criminal record but says he has turned his life around. He is a Hemp farmer. He is concerned about gentrification and says he will keep Nashville's New Transit Plan as a priority. His focus seems to be on the plight of low-income Nashvillians. For more see Nolan Starnes for Mayor.

Carol Swain: I like Carol Swain. I feel I know her. She has a compelling life story.  She courageously stood up to liberal intimidation as a professor at Vanderbuilt University.  However, I won't be voting for her. I did in 2018 when she was the only reasonable alternative to David Briley.  Before John Cooper got in the race, I thought she again was going to be the only real alternative. I contributed to her campaign.

She is a devout Christian, a scholar, an author, and a pundit advocating conservative policies. However, I think John Cooper is a better candidate. He has been in the trenches fighting for fiscal sanity in Nashville.  Despite Swain's conservatism, I am don't think she is the person we need for mayor at this time. Also, I just don't see how she can win. There is no path to victory.  As conservatives we must face the fact that Nashville is a very liberal city and more liberal by the day. Swain's position on issues such as homosexuality, immigration, the nature of Islam and her critique of the damaging effects of our welfare state, would make her unelectable by Nashville's progressives. There are, however, liberals who would vote for fiscal responsibility. To decide to support John Cooper over Carol Swain was not an easy decision, but I am firmly convince that it is the right decision.  See Carol Swain for Mayor and do a search engine search and you can find her commentaries and YouTube videos and much more.

Erica Gilmore

Candidates for Vice mayor

The vice mayor conducts council meeting and makes committee appointments and if the mayors office become vacant, the vice mayor become mayor. There are three candidates for vice mayor.

Erica Gilmore: She is an at-large member of the Metro Council.. She was elected to that seat in 2015. She previously represented District 19 from 2007 to 2015. Gilmore was a candidate for mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. Gilmore was defeated in the special election on May 24, 2018. See link.

Jim Shulman

Robert Sawyers, Sr.: I can't find anything about him. Sawyers was an independent candidate for Governor of Tennessee in 2018. He was a  candidate for State House, 54th District, in 2016. 
 
Jim Shulman: Shulman is the current Vice mayor. Prior to that he served as an at-large council member and prior to that he was a district council members. He conducts meetings fairly and has a long list of civic engagements. I will be voting for Jim Shulman.

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