Councilmember Joy Styles
District 32 Metro Councilmember Joy Styles has announced her intention to run for Nashville mayor in 2027.
Styles, who has served the Antioch area as a councilmember since 2019, is the second candidate to officially challenge first-term Mayor Freddie O’Connell, should he choose to run for reelection. As reported by the Nashville Banner, the only other candidate to have officially entered the race is Lou Wilbanks, a West Nashville development skeptic.
“I'm running because Nashville needs a fighter, someone who is going to fight for you and your neighborhood,” Styles told reporters during a Tuesday press conference.
The announcement took place at the Antioch Global Mall site, a onetime community hub owned by Metro that has sat mostly dormant since a strategic plan for the space was released four years ago, before Mayor O'Connell's tenure. Styles was critical of O’Connell’s focus on the East Bank development at Tuesday's event.
“This site has now become a glaring example of a lack of leadership that we currently have,” Styles said. “We have a plan, but it requires investment to come to fruition. And that investment is just not being made.”
Councilmember Joy Styles says her district doesn’t want to sign up for any more apartments
During her Metro Council tenure, Styles has pushed back on additional affordable housing in Antioch, claiming the district does not need any more apartments. She ultimately supported the complex with the addition of license plate readers to deter crime — she’s been a proponent of the controversial surveillance technology.
As chair of Metro Council’s Women’s Caucus, she also called for the removal of Metro Nashville’s Department of Emergency Communications director Stephen Martini due to allegations of sexual harassment, intimidation, mismanagement and toxic workplace culture. That effort came to fruition this month when Martini was placed on leave.
However, Styles herself — along with Metro Human Relations Commission executive director Davie Tucker — was the subject of an ethics investigation in 2024. The two were found to have behaved improperly toward two Metro Arts employees.
An actress and recording artist, Styles started the Nashville Entertainment Commission, and worked to create the Nashville Office of Entertainment. She also successfully pushed for a nighttime team to manage Metro Codes violations, a program she tells the Scene she plans to expand. Styles also announced that she plans to bring senior care organization FiftyForward to Antioch and continue to work toward a child care facility for Metro employees.
Plans to redevelop the former Starwood Amphitheater site and create a Chinatown are underway in Antioch, Styles reiterated on Tuesday.
In an April 2025 installment of her Metro Council opinion column "On First Reading," contributor Nicole Williams wrote: “Councilmember Joy Styles is at war with the mayor’s office. The outspoken second-term councilmember has made no secret of her disdain for Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s approach to — well, pretty much everything.”
During a phone call with the Scene, Styles says the mayor’s Choose How You Move transit plan has not delivered enough results and criticizes O'Connell's handling of The Boring Company’s planned Music City Loop — which she says has taken place without Metro Council engagement. She also calls O’Connell’s focus on public safety “smoke and mirrors.”
“It's not about telling people that crime is down,” she tells the Scene. “It's about the perception of safety. If last night I saw three people in my driveway jiggling my car door handles, that statistic isn't going to make me feel safe. ... If we know that we're not doing everything we can, using every tool available to prevent crime, deter people from going into areas to attempt a crime, then we're failing.”
