August 1, 2019

1. Nashville Mayor seeks re-election today against nine challengers
2. Register for our August 7 Ballotpedia Insights webinar on market research
3. Rep. Conaway (R-Texas) becomes 12th U.S. House member not to seek 2020 re-election

Nashville Mayor seeks re-election today against nine challengers

Most elections in the U.S. take place on Tuesdays with some states—Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas—holding certain primary and special elections on Saturdays. One state—Tennessee—elects state and county officers on Thursdays as required by the state constitution, and many local jurisdictions, such as Nashville and Memphis, do the same. 

Incumbent David Briley faces nine challengers in today’s nonpartisan election for mayor of Nashville. 

Briley succeeded former Mayor Megan Barry upon her resignation in March 2018 and won a special election in May 2018 to complete her term. In that special election, Briley received 54.4% of the vote in a 13-candidate field. Since Nashville's Metro government was formed in 1963, no mayor has ever lost a bid for re-election.

Briley's top three challengers according to local media outlets are state Rep. John Clemmons (D), At-Large City Councilmember John Cooper, and former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain. Policy debates in the race have largely centered on how the city raises and spends money.

Thirty-one mayoral elections in the country’s 100 largest cities are being held in 2019. In 20 of those cities, the incumbent was a Democrat at the start of 2019. Seven incumbents were Republican, three were independent, and the affiliation of one was unknown. Briley is considered a member of the Democratic Party.

Voters will also elect all 41 members of the metro council, including the vice-mayor. Twenty-seven incumbents are running for re-election and there are 14 open-seat races. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in any race, a runoff election will be held September 12—which is also a Thursday. Nashville is the second-largest city in Tennessee and the 24th-largest city in the United States.

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Register for our August 7 Ballotpedia Insights webinar on market research 

Our next Ballotpedia Insights session will discuss a topic that is a large part of modern campaigns—market research. While market research is often associated with business strategy and understanding customers’ behavior, its’ principles have been increasingly applied to analyzing the wants and needs of voters.

Ballotpedia Insights is a Q&A series with political and legal scholars, researchers, reporters, and subject matter experts. Each installment, we host a new speaker and ask them tailored questions designed to gain in-depth insight into their work. They’re a great opportunity to learn from some leading professionals involved in politics. Even better, they're free to register and attend.

Ballotpedia's Director of Outreach, Sarah Rosier, will interview Adam Probolsky of Probolsky Research—a nationwide opinion and market research firm—on the state of market and opinion research on elections and public policy. 

Probolsky has served as a pollster and strategic advisor on hundreds of successful crisis communications and public affairs projects, local, county and statewide initiatives and candidate campaigns as well as citizen outreach and education efforts. Probolsky Research conducts opinion and market research for business, association, nonprofit, election, and government clients.

What is market research? How does it differ from polling? Join Sarah and Adam to learn the answers to these questions and the changes in market research he's seen over his career. Register today by clicking the link below and then send us your questions about polling to get expert answers.

Rep. Conaway (R-Texas) becomes 12th U.S. House member not to seek 2020 re-election

Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) announced yesterday that he would not seek re-election in 2020. Five things to know related to House members retiring:

1. So far, 12 members of the U.S. House—three Democrats and nine Republicans—have announced they are not running for re-election in 2020. 

2. Nine are retiring from public office, two are seeking a U.S. Senate seat, and one is running for governor. 

3. Conaway was first elected to Congress in 2004 and was re-elected seven times to represent Texas' 11th Congressional District. He received 80.1% in the 2018 general election. 

4. He is the second Republican representative from Texas to announce his retirement this cycle after Pete Olson—from Texas' 22nd District—did so last week.

5. In 2018, 52 members of the U.S. House—18 Democrats and 34 Republicans—did not run for re-election. Thirteen of the 52 seats changed partisan control in the 2018 elections. Ten seats flipped from Republican to Democrat and three seats flipped from Democrat to Republican.