Most At-Large Winners Will Be New To Metro Council

The same five candidates who topped the list for at-large Metro Council seats last month also wound up in the winner’s circle Thursday night, though in a slightly different order.

Coming out with the most votes in the runoff was John Cooper, a real estate investor who put
hundreds of thousands of dollars into his own campaign. This is his first time to hold public office, though his family has a long history in politics. He’s the brother of Nashville Congressman Jim Cooper.

Showing broad countywide support, both Cooper and Erica Gilmore got more votes than mayoral runner-up David Fox. Gilmore, who has served two terms as a district council member, said she hopes to focus on young people. She’s floated ideas like a summer job program where teens would work for the city.

“I think I definitely want to do some things with youth, work with the mayor on transportation — we know that’s very important — and affordable housing,” she said. “But youth is really one of my corner pieces that I really want to work on.”

Attorney Bob Mendes, former councilman Jim Shulman and Jefferson Street United Merchants Partnership director Sharon Hurt won the remaining at-large seats. All five were up for grabs without incumbents. 

Most of those
who failed to win a countywide seat are term-limited district council members like Robert Duvall, who identifies with the chamber’s conservative wing. While it won’t be him, he said he wants the incoming at-large members of the council to take on larger roles unifying the council.

“They’ve got to be assigned specific responsibilities,” Duvall said Thursday night. “Where we have a region issue, that needs to be assigned to somebody to help bring the district council members together and help champion the projects.”

The five at-large winners will take office later this month. For the first time, two — Gilmore and Hurt — are African-American women.