Who's got the money in the race for mayor and where did it come from.

by Rod Williams, June 19, 2023- We are not that far from elections for mayor and Metro Council. Early voting starts July 14th. 

Maybe, it is just me, but it seems that this campaign season has been kind of boring. I do not feel a lot of excitement. It seems like the election is slipping up on us. I have not seen that many campaign signs and have not as of yet received that many mailings, or text messages, or emails from candidates and have only seen a few commercials. Frankly, it is hard to tell the candidates apart. All seem to be playing it safe and no one seems to be offering a bold vision or much of an agenda. 

You can tell who a serious candidate by seeing how much money a candidate has raised and spend. It takes money to run for mayor. Also, sometimes you can tell a lot about a candidate by looking at who is supporting him financially. That can recommend a candidate or give reason to not support him.

I have reviewed each of the candidate's campaign financial disclosure forms for the year end 2022 report and the 2023 first quarter report. Below, I have listed the campaign contributions that I found of interest for each of the candidates. I obviously don't know who all of the movers and shakers and important people are in town, so if you are knowledgeable about who's who in Nashville, you may want to look at the reports for yourself. You can find all of the reports at this link. Below is what I found on each of the candidates,

Freddie O'Connell

Amount Raised this quarter: $113,958. 

Loans outstanding: 0

Balance on hand: $299,045.

Who contributed to his campaign: Former Mayor Megan Barry contributed $400; Former Mayor David Briley contributed $250; Charles Bone, $1600; A Better Tomorrow PAC, $2500; Mark Deutchman of Village Real Estate Services, $1000; several contributions of $1500 from people who work for the Roers Company of Plymouth, MN;  Ned Horton Chairman of the Fair Board, contributed $250; Rich Reibling, $500: Waller Landen PAC, $3500; John Ingram, $1000: Gresham Smith PAC, $2000: Ragan Smith PAC, $500; Hilton Nashville Downtown, $1,000. Dreick Bell of Bell Construction $1,000. Four students by the last name of Tyler who all live at the same address in Brentwood gave $1600 each, David Fox contributed $500, but that is not the David Fox who is the former mayoral candidate who is supporting Alice Rollie in this election; it is a different David Fox.  He also received contributions from a lot of lawyers and several $1800 contributions from Family members, and several contributions from people who work in Constructiion, development, or real estate. 

Allice Rolli

Amount Raised this quarter: $208,765

Total Loans outstanding: $144,275

Balance on hand: $197,482

Who contributed to her campaign: Orrin Ingram of Ingram Industries, $1.800, and John Ingram $1,000; JCB PAC, $2500; Former Chair of the Tennessee Republican Party Tom Beasley, $1,800; former mayoral candidate David Fox, $1,000.

This is a draft of a work in progress. Please check back.

Top Stories