Tag: Nashville Mayoral Special Election

Sports Experts, Commentators Call Penalty on Nashville Predators For Endorsing Briley

Jason M. Reynolds
Sports Experts Decry Preds Briley

Yet another Nashville Predators foray into progressive politics has some saying the team’s president and CEO should spend time in the penalty box. The National Hockey League team’s President/CEO Sean Henry endorsed liberal mayoral candidate David Briley. The former vice mayor assumed office in March when disgraced Mayor Megan Barry resigned. The special election is May 24. The political move made national headlines. “I’ve honestly never seen this before, and I think it’s bad for our country to be politicizing every aspect of our lives, including teams endorsing a political candidate,” Clay Travis of Outkick the Coverage said on his website, as quoted by Brietbart. NewsChannel 5’s Steve Layman said in a broadcast column, “Sports and politics don’t mix.” He cited the fallout over the National Football League players who knelt during the national anthem. That leaves the question: Why would a sports team endorse a candidate? Could money be a factor? The Tennessean reported that the Preds are working with Briley to secure a new lease on Bridgestone Arena. Nashville attorney Daniel Horwitz told the newspaper the team’s endorsement does not violate state law against using public buildings to support a candidate unless giving equal presentation to all sides.…

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Jeff Obafemi Carr: ‘I Can Deliver a Transit Plan That Serves The City of Nashville Without Being an Extra Burden on the Taxpayers Within 12 Months’

Tennessee Star Staff
Jeff Obafemi Carr and Steve Gill

Nashville mayoral candidate jeff obafemi carr, whose company was brought in to consult for strategy and served as Senior Advisor/Strategist for the No Tax for Trax group that successfully opposed the $9 billion transit plan defeated by voters in the May 1 referendum, told Tennessee Star political editor Steve Gill in an exclusive interview on Friday that transit will be his number one priority if elected mayor of Nashville/Davidson County in the May 24 special election. “I can deliver a transit plan that’s effective, cost-efficient, and serves most of the city of Nashville in an effective way without being an extra burden on the taxpayers within 12 months,” carr told Gill. “That’s a goal that I want to check off the list,” he said. “The second thing I want to do is create an effective, affordable housing plan that doesn’t benefit just a few directors or a few housing builders, but gives people an opportunity to be innovative, and it also should be a transdisciplinary approach, that means it should intersect with any transit oriented development.” “The third thing that comes up for me is youth violence. It’s important. I’m the candidate that’s created programs that are successful. That have…

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Stunningly Low Turnout of Just 194 on Fifth Day of Early Voting Suggests Big Trouble for Status Quo in Nashville Mayoral Special Election

Tennessee Star Staff

The fifth day of early voting in Nashville’s special mayoral election on Wednesday saw another stunningly low turnout–only 194 residents of Nashville/Davidson County cast their ballots, bringing the five day early voting total to an anemic 1,039. After five full days of early voting, less than one-third of one percent of the active registered voters in Nashville/Davidson County (which is slightly more than 360,000) have cast their ballots in the May 24 special mayoral election to select a mayor who will serve out the remaining one year and three months of disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry’s term. Barry resigned on March 6, the same day she pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge related to her two year long affair with her bodyguard, former Metro Nashville Police Department Sgt. Rob Forrest. The anemic turnout levels spells big trouble for the campaign of Acting Mayor David Briley. First, it confirms that voters find him an uninspiring candidate. Second, it indicates that voters are likely burned out on politics, after they turned out in droves–about 123,000 total voters went to the polls–to decisively reject the $9 billion transit plan Briley endorsed, 64 percent to 36 percent. Finally, and perhaps more importantly, it…

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Early Voting Begins Today in Nashville’s Special Mayoral Election

Tennessee Star Staff

Early voting in Nashville’s special mayoral election began today, just three days after residents of Nashville/Davidson County went to the polls and defeated the $9 billion Nashville transit plan, 64 percent to 36 percent. Taxpayers will spend an extra $2 million on the May 24 special mayoral election, thanks to the ill advised and legally unsound decision made by the Davidson County Election Commission to schedule the election for a later date, rather than follow the law, as The Tennessee Supreme Court later told them to do in a landmark legal decision last month. The legal and common sense decision that the Davidson County Election Commission rejected would have scheduled both the transit plan referendum and the special mayoral election for the same day, May 1. Residents of Nashville/Davidson County can early vote beginning today, and continuing until Saturday, May 19, as News Channel 5 reported: Right now, you can only vote at the Howard Office Building in downtown Nashville. Hours vary but it opens at 8 a.m. every weekday. All early polling locations will open next Friday, May 11. WSMV offered this guide to early voting: The following locations will be open for voting starting Friday, May 11: Belle…

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Mayoral Candidate Carol Swain to Host Victory Celebration for Opponents of Nashville Transit Plan on Election Night Tuesday

Tennessee Star Staff
Carol Swain

Mayoral candidate Carol Swain announced on Friday that her campaign will host a victory celebration for opponents of the $9 billion Nashville Transit Plan on election night, Tuesday, May 1, from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel. “As one of the leading voices against the transit tax in Nashville, Carol M. Swain is continuing to urge voters to ‘vote against’ on May 1,” the Swain campaign said in a statement released on Friday, adding: The campaign cordially invites all those who have opposed the transit tax to celebrate their efforts and rally around modern alternative solutions. Guests can RSVP here. Carol will share her “Blueprint for Nashville” and ask voters that opposed the transit tax to support her bid for Mayor on Election Day, May 24. “It is is imperative that Nashvillians vote against the transit tax on May 1. If the referendum passes, it will tie the hands of city leaders for at least five decades and stunt the local economy,” Swain said in the statement. “The currently proposed plan does not solve our regional traffic congestion problems. The plan utilizes expensive and outdated technology that does not meet the needs of Nashville’s commuters,”…

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Enthusiastic Crowd at Grand Opening of Carol Swain for Mayor Headquarters in Nashville

Tennessee Star Staff
Carol Swain HQ Opening

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee–An enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 supporters joined Nashville mayoral candidate Carol Swain at the grand opening of her campaign headquarters on White Bridge Road Saturday afternoon. The former Vanderbilt professor spoke at the event, highlighting the major themes of her campaign for mayor: opposition to the $9 billion transit plan on the May 1 ballot in Nashville Davidson County, support for improving the infrastructure by repairing potholes, roads and bridges, and support for ending cronyism and the accompanying unfair distribution of neighborhood resources Though the grand opening celebration celebration was not a fundraising event, dozens of those in attendance chose to make a financial contribution to the campaign. Sources tell The Tennessee Star about $2,000 was contributed to the campaign by those who attended, more evidence that Swain is the only candidate capable of raising the necessary financial resources to seriously compete with Acting Mayor David Briley, the front runner in the May 24 special mayoral election in Nashville/Davidson County. As The Star reported previously, the Swain campaign raised more than $40,000 in its first two weeks of operations. Swain has generated endorsements and financial support from around the country, in addition to the support she…

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New Poll on Nashville Mayoral Election Shows David Briley Below 50 Percent, Carol Swain in Second Place

Tennessee Star Staff

A new Tennessee Star Poll first reported by host Brian Wilson on 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News on Monday morning shows that Acting Mayor David Briley has a large lead over former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain, who is currently a distant second, but that he is substantially below the 50 percent mark he needs to reach in the May 24 election to avoid a runoff election. When asked “If the election was held today, who would be your choice for Mayor of Nashville?” poll respondents answered as follows: 43 percent said Acting Mayor David Briley 9 percent said former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain 7 percent said former radio talk show host Ralph Bristol 5 percent said Metro Council Member At-Large Erica Gilmore 3 percent said State Rep. Harold Love 1 percent said Jeff Obafemi Carr 32 percent said they were undecided The Tennessee Star Poll of 607 likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County was conducted by Triton Research over a two day period between Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13 in an automated telephone (IVR) survey and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. If no candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote on May…

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