None of the former mayoral candidates have endorsed either Bob Clement or Karl Dean in the September 11th runoff, but both men have been seeking the support of the 50-thousand people who didn’t vote for them in the primary election.

Yesterday Bob Clement accepted the endorsement of the Nashville Firefighter’s Union, who had previously supported former Metro Fire Chief Buck Dozier. Dozier received over 17-thousand votes in the primary election.

In a speech today, Clement spoke well of Dozier, and thanked the firefighters for their backing.

“Now they’ve pledged their full, unanimous support, Bob Clement to be their next Mayor, and I appreciate that very much. I don’t care whether I was their first or second choice; I just wanted to be a choice.”

Meanwhile, both Karl Dean and Bob Clement are urging the Davidson Country Election Commission to open more polls for early voting. Currently, the only site available for early voting will be the Election Commission headquarters.

In a letter dated yesterday, Dean pushed for the opening of nine other sites. Clement plans to at a special-called meeting this morning when the commission votes on the matter. In the primary election, those additional sites accounted for 89% of all early votes cast.

Early voting begins August 22.