Franklin Reelects Moore in Contentious Election Cycle

Incumbent Mayor Ken Moore won reelection in the Franklin mayoral race Tuesday, defeating Alderman Gabrielle Hanson in what was likely the most contentious election in the city’s history. 

Moore ran a safe campaign, allowing Hanson’s numerous controversies to take center stage as he focused on reiterating his status in the community. Moore did push back against Hanson toward the end of the race, however, ultimately widening his lead. 

"Welcome to a great night for Franklin, Tenn.," said state Rep. Sam Whitson as he opened Moore's victory party at the Harpeth Hotel on election night. "I think that we can safely say the last time we saw something this big, this great, it was called shock and awe.

"I think tonight, we showed the nation why Franklin, Tenn., and the people are all about what they stand for," Whitson continued. "We stand for what's right and what's good and what's just in this community." 

"Over 80 percent of the voters have spoken and said, 'This is our Franklin,'" Moore added during his victory speech. "Yes, we're not going to tolerate divisiveness, hatred, Nazis. Franklin has rejected people who would abandon the work of so many people for the past 40 years. Franklin has rejected the untruths spoken about me and my supporters. Franklin has rejected the politics of divisiveness and destruction."

As of election night, Moore held a substantial lead — 12,822 votes to 3,322 — over Hanson in the unofficial final vote tally, further widening his lead after the early and absentee votes put him ahead by nearly 7,000 votes. 

"I think this means that the city and the county will continue to work together," Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson told Scene sister publication The News. "The voters have spoken; they came out in record numbers, and I look forward to working with Ken over his term and finding some of the solutions to the problems that we have."

Hanson made national news following a slew of incidents over the past seven months, which included defending her association with white supremacists who acted as a show of force at a Franklin candidate forum; appearing with a white supremacist as her campaign platformed white nationalist talking points; falsely claiming to have had advance knowledge of the Covenant School shooting; alleging "unfounded" threats against her surrounding her opposition to the 2023 Franklin Pride Festival; threatening to have our reporter arrested; evading questions about her criminal past; and attempting to pressure the Nashville International Airport to pull sponsorship support of a Juneteenth event, leading to a city ethics violation and her failed attempt at suing the Franklin Ethics Commission.

Hanson's campaign has also been under the microscope of NewsChannel 5's Phil Williams, who has published several stories about the embattled candidate's deceptive campaign posts featuring relative strangers as well as questions about Hanson and her husband's residency and her husband's participation in a Chicago Pride parade.

The News reached out to Hanson for comment, but has received no response as of publication.

"I don't think that the battle with some of these folks is over," Moore told The News. "I think we've started to win the battle even more. Whenever 80 percent of the city turns out and votes for me and what our board has been doing, it's a great sign, and it should send a message to those folks that want to tear down our city, and we're not going to tolerate it."

Correction: A quote in this story from state Rep. Sam Whitson was initially misattributed to Mayor Ken Moore.

This article was first published by our sister publication, The News.