Nashville’s At-Large Council Candidates Shift Strategies In Hope of Leapfrogging To Victory

With 10 candidates now in the run-off for five at-large Metro Council seats, a few hundred votes could determine who wins. So some candidates are tweaking their tactics.

In the crowded field, it’s impossible to ignore
the vote totals from the general election. History shows that the top five leaders are likely to stay in those spots in the runoff.

That means someone like Councilman Lonnell Matthews, who placed seventh, needs to find more voters.

“Our challenge is: How do we go from about 18,000 voters to 25,000?” he said.

Matthews opened a new campaign office and is trying a new round of mailers and phone calls to voters. He’s also visiting neighborhoods where his vote totals were low.

Other candidates are even more targeted. They’re visiting the specific households where people voted in the past month since that information is public record. The trick is to encourage them to go to the polls again.

“
You basically know who’s voted and you’re looking for them to vote again,
“ 
said f
ormer councilman Jim Shulman. 
“
You
can actually go find them.
“

At-large candidate votes (general election)

Erica Gilmore: 36,469 votes

John Cooper: 34,947 votes

Bob Mendes: 24,517 votes

Jim Shulman: 21,819 votes

Sharon W. Hurt: 19,999 votes

Robert Duvall: 18,824 votes

Lonnell Matthews Jr.: 17,982 votes

Karen Bennett: 17,316 votes

Jason Holleman: 16,567 votes

Erin Coleman: 16,500

Jason Holleman, who was ninth, said he has high interest in areas where there’s also a runoff for the local council seat.

“Because those tend to be places that are a little bit higher turnout. And so I’m spending my time across the county, but really focusing on those areas where district candidates are driving additional folks to the polls,” Holleman said.

More:
Three Issues That Separate The At-Large Candidates

One of the challenges of running at-large is the need to campaign across the entire county.
Community organizer and c
andidate Sharon Hurt said she finds hyper-local concerns in each pocket she visits, requiring her to do, 
“a little bit more homework and studying about some of the issues, so we can be well-versed when approached.”

Some candidates who ended up in the top five said they know history is on their side — although that almost amps up the pressure to hold on.