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Progressives appeared to score a major victory in Tennessee on Thursday as the first round of voting in the Nashville mayor's race saw Freddie O'Connell come out on top with 27 percent of the vote.
The mayoral race is nonpartisan, but O'Connell has described himself as "the only truly progressive candidate running for mayor" of Metropolitan Nashville, which has had a Democratic mayor since 1963.
Tennessee is a deep red state that backed former President Donald Trump in the 2020 and 2016 elections, but Nashville has consistently elected Democrats in mayoral races. It is often called the Music City and is home to country singer Jason Aldean, whose controversial song "Try That in a Small Town" has now taken the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Thursday's election saw 12 candidates compete, and the two top vote-getters will now proceed to a runoff election on September 14. O'Connell, a two-term member of the Metro council, led with 27.13 percent. He will now face Alice Rolli, a conservative business strategist, who won 20.21 percent of the vote.
Rolli previously served as special assistant and later campaign manager to former U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican.
Newsweek has reached out to the O'Connell campaign via email and the Rolli campaign via its website for comment.
The third ranked candidate, Matt Wiltshire, conceded defeat at around 9.30p.m. local time.
Rachel Iacovone, digital news editor with Nashville's WPLN News, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the outcome of Thursday's election meant a clear choice in the runoff.
"Nashville's mayoral race is nonpartisan, but the two finalists clearly lean toward opposite sides of the political spectrum," Iacovone wrote.
"Freddie O'Connell, arguably the race's most progressive candidate, landed 27.1% of the vote. Meanwhile, Republican Alice Rolli came in second with 20.2%," Iacovone added.
"As we together look forward to a runoff election, the choice is even clearer," O'Connell told supporters on election night. "Tomorrow, the contest for the future of Nashville continues. If we're going to win next month, we're going to have to do it the way we did tonight."
Rolli told her supporters: "We now have six weeks to define the direction of our city.
"Do we want Nashville to build a wall or a bridge? Our city is too great to follow the recipe book that has failed other big cities of higher taxes, higher crimes and failing schools," Rolli said.
O'Connell has made public safety a major feature of his campaign and on Thursday said he wasn't planning on striking fear into voters.
His campaign website says that crime prevention "means thinking beyond policing—because crime is often borne out of hopelessness." The website also lists homelessness, housing and education as some of the major campaign issues.
"The sad reality is that some of our neighbors will never be able to produce enough income to be consistently housed, often due to disabilities or mental health conditions," O'Connell's website says.
"They need supportive services that don't exist in traditional housing scenarios. That's why, as Mayor, Freddie will work to develop both permanent and temporary housing options with the services needed by our most vulnerable neighbors," the campaign website says.
Rolli's campaign website lists supporting police, preventing high taxes and "protecting our kids" as some of her priorities.
"She's the only candidate who has signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge, vowing to oppose and veto all efforts to increase taxes," the website says.
"Alice is committed to fiscal responsibility and will work tirelessly to ensure that Nashville's budget is managed with the utmost care and efficiency, prioritizing essential city services and bringing financial stability back to our city," the website adds.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more