CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN
HEADLINE HOMES
NOVEMBER 7, 2024 | VOLUME 36 | NUMBER 44
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Nashville transit campaign begins opening its books Plus, House caucuses spend big in election’s final weeks STEPHEN ELLIOTT, NASHVILLE BANNER
15th Street Baptist Church
PHOTO: JANET KURTZ
Nearly 50 percent of active Davidson County voters cast early voting ballots Hermitage Library top precinct through two-week period LOGAN BUTTS Early voting has ended in Davidson County, and nearly 50 percent of active, eligible voters participated. The Hermitage Library was the top location during the two-week period from Oct. 16-31, accumulating 23,152 votes. The Edmondson Pike Library was close behind with 22,847 votes, while the Bellevue Library (20,915) and the Green Hills Library (20,531) each saw more than 20,000 voters. In total, 209,393 ballots were turned in across the 13 early voting locations, which means 48 percent of active voters and 39.5 percent of active and inactive voters participated. Across the state, 2,214,879 votes were cast, including 82,253 mail-in votes, for an estimated turnout of 45.88 percent in a
state that has ranked in the bottom 10 for voting turnout in each of the previous four presidential elections. Former President Donald Trump won the state with 61 percent of the vote in both 2016 and 2020 and is likely to earn Tennessee’s electoral college votes again during the 2024 election. Aside from the U.S. presidential election, Tennesseans also have a U.S. Senate race on this fall’s ballot as incumbent Sen. Marsha Blackburn takes on state Rep. Gloria Johnson, as well as races in all three of Davidson County’s U.S. congressional districts (5th, 6th and 7th). At the state level, Nashvillians are voting on the state Senate’s 20th District and House races in Districts 50, 51, 52, 53 and 60.
Davidson County’s state House Districts 54, 55, 56, 58 and 59 are also on the ballot, though each of those races are uncontested. Residents in Bellevue, Forest Hills and Goodlettsville are voting for city commissioners in the municipal election, and all Davidson County citizens will decide between voting “for” or “against’ Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s $3.1 billion transit plan “Choose How You Move” that is seeking to modernize Nashville’s transit infrastructure. The News went to press on Nov. 5, Election Day, prior to votes being tallied. Make sure to check back next week for results and analysis from the federal, state, municipal and transit referendum elections.
When the group advocating for passage of Nashville’s transportation referendum first disclosed its fundraising and spending numbers in early October, the campaign provided limited details. The Green Lights For Nashville PAC reported raising $530,324, all from the Nashville Moves Action Fund, a separate 501(c)(4) organization that leaders said was not required to disclose fundraising and spending numbers. The PAC reported spending almost all of that money on television advertising, a claim that raised eyebrows as the campaign also had produced flyers, yard signs and other evidence of active campaigning. Now, though, more light is being shed on who’s funding the pro-transit campaign and where its money is being spent. First, the PAC arm amended its third quarter report, initially filed on Oct. 10 and updated on Oct. 28. The amended filing shows additional spending in the form of in-kind contributions from allied groups to the tune of nearly $90,000. The campaign reported in-kind support from the Davidson County Democratic Party, TIRRC Votes, Stand Up Nashville and The Equity Alliance, which worked on canvassing, phone banking and campaign material. Additionally, the report shows thousands of dollars of expenditures on things like yard signs. The updated report also indicates that the Nashville Moves Action Fund transferred $620,000, not $530,000, during the early period of the campaign. An in-kind contribution of nearly $80,000 attributed to the Nashville Moves Action >> PAGE 3
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