On Aug. 3, 32 of the Metro Council’s 35 seats saw a victor. But three districts with crowded fields didn’t see any candidates break the 50 percent threshold, meaning the contests for Districts 4, 11 and 29 were decided in the Sept. 14 runoff.
District 4
Just 53 votes separated first-place finisher Davette Blalock and runner-up Mike Cortese in the general election race for District 4, which covers the Nippers Corner neighborhood in the southeastern portion of the county. In the runoff, Cortese bested Blalock.
Blalock, a real estate agent, previously served as a District 27 councilmember from 2011 to 2019, and ran an unsuccessful campaign for state House District 53 as a Republican in 2016. Cortese, meanwhile, is an adjunct professor at Belmont University, and previously lost to outgoing District 4 Councilmember Robert Swope in 2019. Swope endorsed Blalock in the general election.
District 11
Perhaps the most closely watched of the Metro Council runoff elections was in Old Hickory’s District 11, where — out of a four-man field — conservative Jeff Eslick finished with 1,142 votes on Election Day, while progressive Eric Patton trailed right behind at 1,086.Â
Earlier this month, a political action committee’s homophobic mailer in support of Eslick focused on Patton’s sexual orientation. In the runoff, Eslick beat Patton by just 49 votes.Â
Eslick owns Slick Media Productions and has worked closely with divisive conservative Lower Broadway bar owner Steve Smith, who also owns land in District 11.
District 29
District 29 incumbent Delishia Porterfield opted to run for an at-large seat this cycle rather than pursuing a second term in her district, opening up a four-person race. On Election Day, Tasha Ellis earned 911 votes to represent the Percy Priest Lake-adjacent district — about 112 votes shy of the 50 percent she would have needed to win outright. John Reed trailed behind with 484 votes.
In the runoff, Ellis defeated Reed by roughly 25 percent. Ellis has worked for the Tennessee Democratic Party and as a consultant, and has listed infrastructure upgrades and combating street racing and other prevalent crimes as her priorities.
After a long mayoral race and a six-week runoff, progressive O'Connell beat conservative Rolli by roughly 29 points
