Freddie O'Connell
Support for Metro Councilmember Freddie O'Connell's bid for mayor continues to grow with early voting in the runoff underway Friday.
On Thursday, the entire nine-member Metropolitan Nashville Board of Public Education announced its support for O'Connell. According to a release from the group, "many believe this is the first time" the school board has jointly endorsed a mayoral candidate.
"Freddie's commitment to investing in our schools, ensuring modern resources, paying teachers and staff high wages and fostering an inclusive environment aligns with the board's vision," board chair Rachael Anne Elrod says in the release. "I look forward to working with the first Nashville mayor in recent memory that personally invests in Nashville's public schools by entrusting us with their own children's education."
At a mayoral debate Thursday, O'Connell's opponent Alice Rolli questioned his family's decision to send his kids to public schools outside of their zone, calling it "hypocrisy."
A Rolli spokesperson did not respond to questions about where her kids attend school, and she did not speak with reporters after the debate. She has alluded to her kids going to a religious private school but in 2018 wrote in The Tennessean that one of her kids attended Metro schools.
"I invite you back into our public school system," O'Connell told Rolli onstage.
It's not a huge surprise that the school board would back O'Connell, as Rolli said during the campaign that she would consider seeking to take over the school board if it does not renew charter school authorizations.
Also on Thursday, O'Connell announced endorsements from Sheriff Daron Hall, Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry and Public Defender Martesha Johnson. Hall supported Matt Wiltshire, who has also endorsed O'Connell, in the first round of voting. Juvenile Court Clerk Lonnell Matthews and state Rep. Caleb Hemmer also endorsed O'Connell this week.
While the Fraternal Order of Police's Nashville chapter has backed Rolli (after previously supporting Wiltshire and Cooper), more prominent groups and officials in Nashville are supporting O'Connell in the runoff, including the third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishers in the first round of voting, labor unions and pro-business organizations.
