Nashville Mayor David Briley announced Tuesday he’s running for reelection.
What’s uncertain is who and how many people will oppose him.
The Tennessean floated names such as at-large council member John Cooper, real estate executive Bill Freeman, and council member Steve Glover.
No one in Briley’s office returned The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Tuesday.
Cooper, in an email, told The Star he has no timeline.
“Am listening to people to decide what to do,” Cooper said.
“Our financial situation will be the big issue for next year and the years to come.”
When reached Tuesday, Glover, a Republican, said he has no interest in running for mayor, but he is interested in running for an at-large council position.
“It would be a challenge for a Republican to be elected as the mayor. It would be a hard fight for a Republican to be elected in this city, but I do believe a conservative Republican could be elected for an at-large seat and if we sit down and work we can get conservatives,” Glover said.
“I don’t care if you’re Republican, independent or Democrat, we need conservatives on the council on this next go-round that will sit down and say we’ve got to fix the city. We can’t keep spending the way we are spending.”
Nashville, Glover said, is, at best, 30 to 35 percent Republican.
Freeman, a Democrat, told The Star his interest right now is helping his son, Bob Freeman, win a seat in the state house, district 56.
“I’m trying to help him any way I can,” said Bill Freeman, who sought the Nashville mayor’s office, without success, in 2015.
“But whomever the next mayor is needs to figure out the traffic and transit question. We have got to figure out affordable housing. Stimulate affordable housing construction and development that exceeds what we are doing now. Traffic is a huge priority.”
Briley, as the Tennessean went on to say, “faced blowback from a polarizing budget, where a plan to raise property taxes to pay for employee pay raises, was voted down.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
And it should be the goal of everyone in House District 56 to prevent the despicable Bill Freeman from getting his spawn elected to the State House.