2023 Nashville mayoral election

2023 Nashville mayoral election
Turnout	20.52% (first round) 0.44 pp; 23.02% (runoff) 2.50 pp
	First-round results by precinct ; O'Connell: 10–20% 20–30% 30–40% 40–50% 50–60%; Rolli: 20–30% 30–40% 40–50% >90%; Wiltshire: 10–20% 20–30% 30–40%; Hurt: 10–20% 20–30% 30–40%; Wilhoite: 10–20% 20–30%; Yarbro: 20–30% 60–70%; Tie; Runoff results by precinct; O'Connell: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Rolli: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; No data
Mayor before election; John Cooper; Democratic	Elected mayor ; Freddie O'Connell; Democratic

The 2023 Nashville mayoral election took place on August 3, 2023, to elect the next mayor of Nashville, Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic Mayor John Cooper did not seek re-election to a second term in office.^[2] A wide field of candidates ran to succeed Cooper, with Democratic metro councilmember Freddie O'Connell and Republican political consultant Alice Rolli advancing to the runoff because no candidate surpassed 50% of the vote. In the runoff election, Democratic candidate Freddie O'Connell was elected with 63.9% of the vote, defeating Republican Candidate Alice Rolli, becoming the 10th mayor of metro Nashville.^[3]

Freddie O'Connell was considered one of the more progressive figures in Nashville politics and is known for his vocal opposition to the use of public funds to build the Nissan Stadium.^[4] Alice Rolli is a businesswoman who has worked for numerous prominent Tennessee Republicans in the past, including governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander.^[5]

Rolli was considered an underdog in the runoff due to her status as a Republican in a heavily Democratic city. In the 60 years since the city of Nashville was consolidated with Davidson County in 1963, it has never elected a Republican mayor.^[5] Democrat Joe Biden won the city with 64.5% of the vote in the 2020 presidential election.^[6]

All Nashville municipal elections are required to be non-partisan, but candidates can be affiliated with a political party.

Candidates

Advanced to runoff


Candidate	Experience	Party Affiliation	Announced	Ref
Freddie O'Connell	Metro councilmember from the 19th district since 2015	Democratic^[7]	April 28, 2022 Website	^[8]
Alice Rolli	Former aide to governor Bill Haslam and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander	Republican^[7]	February 24, 2023 Website	^[9]

Eliminated in first round


Candidate	Experience	Party Affiliation	Announced	Ref
Natisha Brooks	Educator Candidate for Tennessee's 5th congressional district in 2022	Republican^[10]	February 20, 2023 Website	^[10]
Fran Bush	Former member of the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board (2018–2022)	Independent^[7]	February 17, 2023 Website	^[11]
Heidi Campbell	State senator from the 20th district since 2021 Nominee for Tennessee's 5th congressional district in 2022	Democratic^[12]	April 5, 2023 Website	^[12]
Bernie Cox	Business owner Candidate for mayor in 2019	Republican^[7]	Website	^[7]
Sharon Hurt	At-Large metro councilmember since 2015	Democratic^[7]	December 5, 2022 Website	^[13]
Stephanie Johnson	Business owner	Independent	May 1, 2023 Website	^[14]
Vivian Wilhoite	Davidson County Property Assessor since 2016	Democratic^[15]	May 2, 2023 Website	^[16]
Matt Wiltshire	Former Nashville Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency chief strategy officer	Democratic^[7]	July 13, 2022 Website	^[17]
Jeff Yarbro	Former Minority Leader of the Tennessee Senate (2019–2023) State senator from the 21st district since 2015	Democratic^[7]	February 17, 2023 Website	^[18]

Withdrew after the filing deadline

Candidate	Experience	Party Affiliation	Announced	Withdrew	Ref
Jim Gingrich	Former AllianceBernstein chief operating officer	Democratic^[7]	February 8, 2023 Website	July 17, 2023	^[19]^[20]

Withdrew before the filing deadline

Gilbert Ramirez, business owner and former police officer^[14] (running for Metro Council at-large)^[21]
Lorenzo Short, Jr. real estate broker^[14]^[22]

Disqualified

William Domann, musician^[23]
Zerit Teklay, author^[23]

Declined

Megan Barry, former mayor (2015–2018) (Party affiliation: Democratic)^[24]
Hal Cato, former nonprofit executive^[25]
John Cooper, incumbent mayor (Party affiliation: Democratic)^[26]
David A. Fox, candidate for mayor in 2015^[27] (endorsed Rolli)^[28]
Bob Freeman, state representative for the 56th district (2018–present) (Party affiliation: Democratic)^[24] (endorsed Campbell)^[29]
Odessa Kelly, community activist and nominee for Tennessee's 7th congressional district in 2022 (Party affiliation: Democratic)^[30]
Bob Mendes, metro councilmember^[31] (endorsed O'Connell)^[32]
Tara Scarlett, education nonprofit CEO^[33]
Jim Shulman, vice mayor of Nashville (ran for re-election)^[34]
Carol Swain, retired Vanderbilt University professor and candidate for mayor in 2018 and 2019 (Party affiliation: Republican)^[35]

First round

First round endorsements

John Cooper (not running)

Labor unions

International Association of Fire Fighters Local 140^[36]
Nashville Fraternal Order of Police^[36]

Heidi Campbell

State senators

Sara Kyle, state senator from the 30th district (2015–present)^[12]

State representatives

John Ray Clemmons, state representative from the 55th district (2015–present)^[12]
Bob Freeman, state representative from the 56th district (2019–present)^[12]
Gloria Johnson, state representative from the 90th district (2013–2015, 2019–present)^[37]
Bo Mitchell, state representative from the 50th district (2013–present)^[12]

Local officials

Cheryl Mayes, Metro Nashville School Board member from the 6th district (2022–present)^[12]

Organizations

Planned Parenthood (co-endorsement with O'Connell, Wilhoite, and Yarbro)^[38]
Sunrise Movement Nashville (co-endorsement with O'Connell)^[29]

Labor unions

Ironworkers Local 492^[28]

Individuals

Lucinda Williams, American singer-songwriter^[29]
Kesha, American singer-songwriter^[29]

Sharon Hurt

State legislators

Brenda Gilmore, former state senator from the 19th district (2019–2023)^[38]

Local officials

Erica Gilmore, Davidson County Trustee^[28]
Michael Hancock, outgoing mayor of Denver, Colorado (2011–2023)^[39]
Charlie Tygard, metro councilmember at-large (2007–2015) and for District 35 (2002–2007) (co-endorsement with O'Connell and Wiltshire)^[29]
Brenda Wynn, Davidson County Clerk^[38]

Freddie O'Connell

State legislators

Jason Powell, state representative from the 53rd district (2013–present)^[40]

Metro councilmembers

Erin Evans, District 12 (2019–present)^[32]
Jacob Kleinfelter, District 34 (1995–1999)^[29]
Kristine Lalonde, District 18, (2007–2011)^[29]
Bob Mendes, at-large (2015–present)^[32]
Sean Parker, District 5 (2019–present)^[32]
Dave Rosenberg, District 35 (2015–present)^[32]
Sandra Sepulveda, District 30 (2019–present)^[32]
Charlie Tygard, at-large (2007–2015) and District 35 (2002–2007) (co-endorsement with Hurt and Wiltshire)^[29]
Lynn Williams, District 34 (1999–2007)^[29]

Local officials

Jim Speering, former Metro Nashville School Board member from the 3rd district (2012–2020)^[28]

Organizations

Planned Parenthood (co-endorsement with Campbell, Wilhoite, and Yarbro)^[38]
Sunrise Movement Nashville (co-endorsement with Campbell)^[29]
Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition^[29]

Labor unions

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 235 (co-endorsement with Wilhoite)^[29]

Alice Rolli

Local officials

David A. Fox, former Metro Nashville School Board chair and candidate for mayor in 2015^[28]
Pearl Sims, former Davidson County planning commission member^[28]

Organizations

Americans for Tax Reform^[41]
Community Leaders of America^[41]
Davidson County GOP^[42]

Individuals

Grover Norquist, political activist and founder of Americans for Tax Reform^[43]
J.C. Bowman, executive and CEO of Professional Educators of Tennessee^[41]
John D. Richardson, Tennessee Republican Party state executive

Vivian Wilhoite

State officials

Carol Solomon, former Twentieth Circuit Court Division VIII judge (1998–2014)^[28]

Local officials

Glenn Funk, Davidson County District Attorney General (2014–present)^[16]
Nick Leonardo, former Davidson County General Sessions Court Division III judge (2018) and metro councilmember from the 1st district (2016–2018)^[28]

Organizations

Planned Parenthood (co-endorsement with Campbell, O'Connell, and Yarbro)^[38]

Labor unions

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 235 (co-endorsement with O'Connell)^[29]

Matt Wiltshire

State legislators

Jason Potts, former state representative from the 59th district (2019–2023) and metro councilmember from the 30th district (2011–2019)^[28]

Metro councilmembers

George Armistead, at-large (1987–1999)^[28]
Phil Claiborne, District 15 (2007–2015)^[28]
Stewart Clifton, District 18 (1987–1999)^[28]
Jacobia Dowell, District 32 (2011–2019)^[28]
Jamie Isabell, District 2 (2003–2007)^[28]
Sean McGuire, District 25 (2007–2015)^[28]
Robert Nash, District 27 (2019–present)^[28]
Doug Pardue, District 10 (2011–2019)^[28]
Phil Ponder, District 12 (1995–2003)^[28]
Bill Pridemore, District 9 (2011–2019)^[28]
John Rutherford, District 31 (2019–present)^[28]
Carter Todd, District 34 (2007–2015)^[28]
Charlie Tygard, at-large (2007–2015) and District 35 (2002–2007)^[28] (co-endorsement with Hurt and O'Connell)^[29]
Nancy VanReece, District 8 (2015–present)^[28]
Chris Whitson, District 23 (2003–2005)^[28]

Local officials

Claudia Bonnyman, Davidson County Chancery Court judge^[29]
Daron Hall, former Davidson County Sheriff (2002–present)^[40]

Organizations

Nashville Fraternal Order of Police^[38]

Jeff Yarbro

U.S. Representatives

Jim Cooper, TN-05 (2003–2023), TN-04 (1983–1985)^[40]

State legislators

Raumesh Akbari, Minority Leader of the Tennessee Senate (2023–present) from the 29th district (2019–present)^[28]
Darren Jernigan, state representative from the 60th district (2013–present) and metro councilmember from the 11th district (2011–2015)^[29]

Metro councilmembers

Larry Hagar, District 11 (2015–present)^[29]

Organizations

Planned Parenthood (co-endorsement with Campbell, O'Connell, and Wilhoite)^[38]

Labor unions

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1995^[28]

First round polling


Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Fran Bush	Heidi Campbell	Jim Gingrich	Sharon Hurt	Freddie O'Connell	Alice Rolli	Vivian Wilhoite	Matt Wiltshire	Jeff Yarbro	Other/ Undecided
VictoryPhones (R)^[a]	July 25–27, 2023	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	0.8%	5.9%	–	3.6%	25.4%	18.8%	3.4%	14.6%	13.1%	14.5%
GBAO Strategies (D)^[b]	July 17–19, 2023	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	–	8%	–	6%	21%	13%	4%	10%	12%	25%
	July 17	Gingrich withdraws from the race
Music City Research^[c]	July 5–6, 2023	502 (LV)	± 4.2%	–	7%	4%	3%	20%	13%	3%	15%	6%	30%
Public Policy Polling (D)^[d]	June 2–4, 2023	400 (LV)	± 4.2%	–	8%	3%	7%	10%	4%	–	8%	9%	51%^[e]
VictoryPhones (R)^[a]	May 2–4, 2023	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	2%	21.9%	4.2%	6.7%	15.6%	4%	3.2%	6.6%	17%	18.8%

Hypothetical polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Hal Cato	John Cooper	Matt Wiltshire	Undecided
Impact Research^[f]	April 6–11, 2022	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	38%	28%	13%	21%

First round results

2023 Nashville mayoral election results (first round)^[44]
Candidate	Votes	%
Freddie O'Connell	27,503	27.14
Alice Rolli	20,472	20.20
Matthew Wiltshire	17,193	16.97
Jeff Yarbro	12,356	12.19
Heidi Campbell	8,337	8.23
Sharon Hurt	6,104	6.02
Vivian Willhoite	4,758	4.70
Jim Gingrich	1,668	1.65
Natisha Brooks	1,458	1.44
Stephanie Johnson	581	0.57
Fran Bush	503	0.50
Bernie Cox	322	0.32
Write-in	80	0.07
Total votes	101,335	100.00

Runoff

Runoff endorsements

Endorsements in bold were made after the first round.