TENNESSEE SUPREME COURT
JACKSON AND DOWELL
SEPTEMBER 7, 2023 | VOLUME 35 | NUMBER 35
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Election Day approaches — again BY D. PATRICK RODGERS
Signs outside of a Nashville voting precinct
PHOTO BY ELIZABETH JONES
It feels as though Nashville’s mayoral race has stretched on for decades. In reality, it began when term-limited District 19 Metro Councilmember Freddie O’Connell declared his candidacy back in April 2022, and heated up when Mayor John Cooper announced in January of this year that he would not seek reelection. The already-crowded field filled in further after that, with 12 candidates qualifying to run for the office by the May 2023 deadline. Ultimately, O’Connell, the most progressive candidate in the field, came in first on Election Day with about 27,000 votes. Conservative Alice Rolli landed about 20,000 votes on Aug. 3, coming in second
and leaving the rest of the field — mostly Democrats — to split the remaining liberal votes among themselves. With early voting now open, and runoff Election Day set for Sept. 14, we’re taking a close look at O’Connell’s and Rolli’s campaigns. Also in this issue you’ll find our pieces on the remaining Metro Council races — eight candidates are vying for the body’s four remaining at-large seats, while three of the city’s 35 district seats are also headed to a runoff. Read on, and head to the polls one last time. This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Scene.
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Special session ends in disappointment, confrontation BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT AND KELSEY BEYELER
The special legislative session has come to an end with little movement toward a safer Tennessee. Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, called the GOP-controlled legislature into special session in response to a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville earlier this year that left three children and three staff members, including a Lee family friend, dead. Lee advocated for extreme-risk protection orders, a way for courts to temporarily remove guns from the possession of people experiencing mental health crises. Republican leaders in the legislature rebuffed Lee’s calls for ERPOs and ultimately passed just a few pieces of legislation, including additional mental health funding. Another bill encourages but does not require safer gun storage, while others require the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to submit a report on human trafficking and shorten the window during which courts must report criminal proceedings to the TBI for background checks. The legislature also allocated $112 million for school safety and mental health supports. “The goal of this session was public safety, from the very beginning,” Lee told reporters Tuesday. “There are a lot of disagreements
about the way forward with that. But it’s really important that, in spite of the disagreements, that we find the things that people can agree upon, so that we can make progress.” Tensions were high throughout the session, with Covenant School parents and protesters advocating for further action from the Tennessee General Assembly. The House instituted a new rule banning attendees from holding signs, though a Nashville court quickly moved to reverse the rule. House leaders directed state troopers to remove attendees from multiple meetings, and the House voted to restrict the speaking rights of state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) over supposed disruptions. On Tuesday, an encounter between state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) and House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) left Republicans and Democrats hurling accusations. “We thought there were other bills that would be beneficial and that could have helped the Covenant shooting situation in the future — we passed them,” Sexton told reporters on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t get across the finish line with the Senate and so we’ll come back in January and see what we can do.” Republicans also fought among
State Reps. Jason Powell, Gloria Johnson and Justin Pearson comfort Covenant School parent Sarah Shoop Neumann at the state Capitol Tuesday. PHOTO BY MATT MASTERS
themselves, as House GOP leaders accused the Republican-led Senate of inaction for refusing to take up a slate of bills considered in the House. “We aren’t doing the will of the people
who sent us here,” said Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville), who called the special session a waste of taxpayer money. This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Scene.
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