The decision by President Joe Biden to drop out in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris could help Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell pass his WeGo Transportation Referendum in November, according to the longtime chief of staff to former Representative Jim Cooper prior to his retirement in 2022.
Lisa Quigley claimed the key to electoral success for Democrats and their issues in Nashville depends on activating key voting blocs in a statement to Axios, stressing that “younger” and black voters are vital.
“In Nashville, we really need to count on younger voters and Black voters to show up at their strength,” said Quigley.
She added, “Harris has put the wind beneath their wings.”
The mayor stopped short of predicting Harris’ candidacy would boost his referendum’s odds. He told the outlet, “We all benefit from a more engaged electorate,” and urged voters to back his referendum regardless of their other political preferences.
Jeff Morris, the executive director of an outside group supporting the referendum, told Axios that anything that creates “added voter and excitement and motivation” would benefit his campaign.
O’Connell’s Choose How You Move referendum would create 86 miles of new sidewalks, 600 new traffic signals, and 38 miles of 24-hour bus lines serving an expanded part of Nashville and its suburbs.
While Harris’ candidacy could boost the referendum, Nashville Tea Party Founder Ben Cunningham maintains it is illegal because O’Connell seeks to raise the half-cent sales tax using the 2017 IMPROVE Act, which did not allow taxes to be levied for sidewalks, street lights, or other ideas outlined in the mayor’s proposal.
Cunningham has additionally branded the proposal a “greendoggle” and argued that the plan relies on unreliable or finite federal funding. Should the federal dollars disappear, Cunningham said the referendum could result in an increase in property taxes for Nashville citizens.
“So when people vote in 2024 on the transit referendum, they’ll actually be voting for two tax increases,” said Cunningham in March. “They’ll be voting for the sales tax increase, and then they’ll be voting for the 2025 property tax increase because you know what 2025 is? It’s a reappraisal year.”
The mayor claimed the transit referendum would ultimately cost $3.1 billion, but a third-party analysis commissioned by the Nashville government found the true cost over the 15-year life of the project swells to $6.93 billion.
Harris received endorsements from both O’Connell and disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry, who resigned after details surfaced of her taxpayer-funded affair with her bodyguard but is now the Democratic Party’s nominee to challenge U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-05) in November.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Kamala Harris” by Kamala Harris.
