After a long campaign season that kicked into high gear when Mayor John Cooper announced in January that he would not seek reelection, progressive District 19 Metro Councilmember Freddie O’Connell and Republican strategist Alice Rolli are headed to a runoff for the mayor's office.
With a voter turnout of just over 100,000, O’Connell secured 27 percent of the vote, with Rolli at 20 percent. Though polling and fundraising placed Matt Wiltshire as an early favorite, the former Metro official ultimately landed in third place with 17 percent. Democratic state Sens. Jeff Yarbro and Heidi Campbell landed in fourth and fifth place respectively, with the rest of the crowded field trailing behind.
“Tonight’s success is not the change we seek,” O’Connell told supporters gathered at Analog at the Hutton Hotel in Midtown. “Only a better chance to make that change. So we have to get out and share the hope and faith that we’ve had all along with people who believe in something just a little bit different.”
Meanwhile five miles west at Coco’s Italian Market, Rolli painted a different picture.
“Do we want more of the same?” Rolli asked her supporters. “Do we believe that letting the city council run the city is a good idea?”
“We have the chance in this next chapter to decide if we want Nashville to build a wall or to build a bridge,” she said.
“We left it all out on the field,” Wiltshire told those gathered at Swett’s. “This didn’t turn out the way we hoped it would when we started this campaign, but I have learned so much from each of you. … I am filled with optimism about our city and about our future.”
Early voting for the runoff will take place Aug. 25 through Sept. 9, with Election Day to follow on Sept. 14. Above, see photos by Scene photographers Angelina Castillo, Eric England and Hamilton Matt Masters.
Braden Simmons contributed reporting to this story.
