Mayor John Cooper
When then-Mayor David Briley’s campaign team criticized then-candidate John Cooper for “buying” the race by using his own money, Cooper spokesperson Katie Lentile touted the virtue of her boss’s personal spending.
“We are following the Phil Bredesen model,” she said. “This allows us to be mayor in the right way.”
When Cooper announced his campaign in April, he said, “I’m sure I will be the largest donor.”
And Cooper, a real estate developer, was right. He ultimately spent more than $2 million of his own money on the race, which he easily won.
Apparently, now he wants that money back.
Cooper has held a series of post-election “celebration events” at which he requests $1,600 from individual hosts and $8,100 from political action committee sponsors — like those of the law firms, developers and other interests with business before Metro. One such celebration was held Oct. 29 at Johnny Cash’s Kitchen & Saloon, according to an invitation obtained by the Scene. The next is Monday night at a location to be announced (multiple invitees confirm it will be at Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse, a fundraising-circuit favorite where Lt. Gov. Randy McNally brought in nearly $200,000 this summer).
Another way Cooper can recoup some of his $2 million, initially held out to the public as a donation rather than a loan, is by accepting the mayor’s $180,000 salary, which a spokesperson confirms he will.
Cooper’s campaign largely did rely on his fortune until the first round of voting, in which Cooper bested Briley by 10 points, a surprise to some. Many of Briley’s wealthiest backers quickly switched sides and supported Cooper ahead of the runoff, even those whose development projects Cooper had savaged as a Metro Council member.
"Throughout Mayor Cooper's campaign, he gratefully accepted contributions from anyone who believed in his message of a Nashville that works for everyone," says Cooper fundraiser April Orange. "The events taking place on behalf of the campaign are no different in their spirit and purpose."
