Mayor John Cooper at the 2022 State of Metro
Mayor John Cooper announced Tuesday that he will not run for a second term this year.
The news came as a surprise to some, as Cooper had already held a fundraiser, filed official paperwork setting the stage for a 2023 campaign and secured endorsements from the local Fraternal Order of Police and firefighters' union. He was elected to the office in 2019 after a term on Metro Council. Cooper's time in office has been defined by the 2020 tornado, COVID-19, the Christmas 2020 bombing and a push to build a new stadium for the Tennessee Titans.
"No one could have predicted the unprecedented challenges we would face as a city," Cooper told reporters at a press conference Tuesday morning, referring to his term as two terms "of crisis and investment." He went on to thank various department heads and members of his administration as well as his family, before noting, "I never wanted to campaign — I wanted to govern."
Cooper's decision not to run leaves candidates including former Metro official Matt Wiltshire and Metro Councilmembers Freddie O'Connell and Sharon Hurt in the race.
The mayor's brother, Jim Cooper, a longtime Nashville-area member of Congress, decided not to run for reelection last year after redistricting carved his district into several GOP-friendly seats.
