Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Alice Rolli, GOP candidate for Nashville mayor, in studio to talk about her family legacy and professional background in politics.
Leahy: We are delighted to welcome to our microphones, a candidate for mayor, who’s also a Republican here in Nashville, Davidson County. There’s one other Republican on the ballot who’s been here as well, an Independent, and then six left-wing lunatics. But here, Alice Rolli. Did I get that right?
Rolli: You did. Thank you, Michael. I’m really glad to be here this morning.
Leahy: I’ve not met you until early, a couple of months ago when you were at the Davidson County GOP meeting. And so, tell us a little bit about your background. And you have an undergraduate degree from Stanford, and you do have a diploma from Stanford.
Rolli: Sure do.
Leahy: And then an MBA from the University of Virginia, the Darden School, right?
Rolli: That’s right.
Leahy: When did you move back to Nashville?
Rolli: As you said, I am a native, and I was one of the lucky ones who got here, by the way, of Baptist Hospital in Vanderbilt in the 70s. I graduated from Humme Fog High School downtown. Just like my grandfather, who graduated from there in 1933 and I came along a little bit after.
Proud Blue Knight. But my husband, who I met when I was working for Senator Alexander from 2002 to 2005 in D.C., was a doctor in the United States Army. And so, while the United States Senate stays, the United States Army moves you around. So we lived all over the country and the world, and he had multiple deployments. We got back here as soon as we could in the fall of 2011.
Leahy: Okay, so you’ve been back here for some time, more than a decade. Your dad, a well-known in Nashville, a successful business guy was a well-known political donor and friend of a lot of folks. Tell us a little bit about your dad’s background.
Rolli: Sure. My dad is Al Ganier. My grandfather’s also Al Ganier and my great-grandfather. A lot of your listeners will know Radner Lake. And the top part of Radner Lake is named actually for my great-grandfather who helped work with the state to turn that land into what is now the most visited state park here in Davidson County.
Leahy: You go back that many generations in Nashville.
Rolli: We go back that many generations solving problems in Nashville.
Leahy: How many of your potential constituents in Davidson County have, are newcomers and have only been here for a few years?
Rolli: You’ve probably done the math. I think in 2016, 84,000 Davidson County residents voted for President Trump. And in 2020, 100,000 did. I guess there are at least 16,000 new ones here. (Chuckles) But yes, my father worked long back with Robin Beard and National Young Republicans.
Leahy: Now, Robin was a congressman for a period of time, wasn’t he back in the 80s?
Rolli: That’s right. The 70s. Yes. Went way back to what I would call the founders of the modern Republican Party. If you’ve gone to my website, you’ve probably seen Andrew Dunn, the grandson of Winfield Dunn, who is supporting my campaign. We are very proud. My grandparents, in the 80s, at the farm my father lives on now, were the chairs of Farmers for Reagan. So we have been here for quite a while.
Leahy: I think, just to get this out of the way. Your dad got into a little bit of legal trouble back a while ago.
Rolli: Yes, he did. I think there was a little bit of a witch hunt against a former governor. It ended two years later with a misdemeanor. And you can get one of those for peeing in public.
Leahy: (Chuckles) I don’t know what to do with that.
Rolli: We’re here to have fun. (Chuckles) I’m just trying to contextualize it. People get misdemeanors every day.
Leahy: (Laughs) Tell us a little bit about your qualifications to be mayor. I know you worked for economic and community development here under Bill Hagerty.
Rolli: That’s right.
Leahy: Were you the manager of Lamars 2014 re-election campaign?
Rolli: That’s right. I was the only woman in America in 2014 to run a statewide campaign for a United States senator.
Leahy: So you ran that And I did the PAC, the Beat Lamar PAC.
Rolli: That is right.
Leahy: You guys won.
Rolli: We did meet a few times, Michael Patrick in that.
Leahy: Did we meet in that?
Rolli: Yes. Do as adversaries do in law, strive mightily, yet eat and drink as friends. You’re a Harvard guy, so you appreciate a Shakespeare quote.
Leahy: But also Stanford guy.
Rolli: I know.
Leahy: You were there about the same time I was, I think. When did you graduate?
Rolli: 2001.
Leahy: No, you’re much younger than I am.
Rolli: You were probably in my aunt’s class in business school, a long time ago.
Leahy: Who’s your aunt?
Rolli: Carol Anne Kreider, but a different maiden name there, but Carol Anne.
Leahy: Good. When we come back we’re gonna wanna learn about how much money you’re gonna put into this campaign because the left-wing lunatics have a lot of money.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Alice Rolli” by Alice Rolli. Background Photo “Davidson County Courthouse” by Michael Rivera. CC BY-SA 4.0.
