As it is now drawn, Metro Council District 25 encompasses parts of Green Hills, Oak Hill and the Radnor Lake State Natural Area. It’s a sliver that stretches from the I-440 loop down to the southern border of Davidson County. Russ Pulley has represented the district for eight years, and tells the Scene he’d likely run again if he weren’t term-limited. Instead Pulley is running for an at-large Metro Council seat, and three candidates are vying for the D25 seat — Jeff Preptit, Rolando Toyos and David Ackerman.
Folks may recognize Toyos and Preptit from previous elections. Preptit, who is on the board of the Davidson County Young Democrats, is a civil rights attorney and former public defender who in 2022 ran as a Democrat for state House District 59, but withdrew from the race after newly drawn legislative maps put him in a different district. Toyos is a former teacher and practicing physician with three clinics in Nashville. He serves on the board of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for the Shelby County Commission in 2010 and for U.S. Senate in 2018. Ackerman, who does not identify as a member of either party, works for a higher-education software company.
Toyos, the son of Cuban immigrants, compares his bid to running a medical practice — he wants people to discuss their problems openly and holistically. He says he wants available city services such as law enforcement to keep up with the growth the city is experiencing. “I’m running for my constituency,” says Toyos. “So what I’m trying to do is do some outreach now and see what issues are important to them.”
Preptit, whose parents immigrated from Haiti, has support from Democratic state House Reps. Caleb Hemmer and Bob Freeman. “I’m running on … equity, justice and community safety,” says Preptit. “I firmly believe that if we have those principles embedded in the policies that we enact, we’re going to have a better Nashville that actually works for the folks who live and work here.” He was the only candidate who addressed stormwater infrastructure during conversations with the Scene, and his website highlights matters including community safety, housing, education, development and infrastructure.
Ackerman is regional vice chair for the Davidson County Republican Party, though he says he remains "committed to keeping this a nonpartisan race." According to his website, Ackerman is running on the concepts of affordability, transit, education and public safety. “In every area of our government, there’s always room for improvement,” says Ackerman. “So it’s looking for, ‘What is that need, and how do we get on board to make that happen?’”
Pulley hasn’t endorsed a candidate, but he’s planning to host a forum with them at Lipscomb University on June 27.
“They need to be super responsive, because this is a very engaged district, and their expectation is that they can reach their councilmember,” says Pulley. “We do have some district councilmembers who tend to involve themselves more in countywide matters than they do their own district, and that’s not going to work very well here.”
All 40 Metro Council seats are up for election, and early voting begins in one month
