An in-depth interview with each Council Member At-large candidate.

by Rod Williams, July 7, 2023- The Nashville Post has interviewed each of the candidates running for Council Member at-large. These are much more in-depth interviews with more substantive questions than I have seen elsewhere. The interviews and the articles are written by Stephen Elliot. He does an excellent job. In order to be able to ask substantial questions, the reporter needs to know what he is talking about and obviously Elliot does. So, often it seems to me that news reporting is so bad because the reporter does not have a grasp of the subject matter. If you are undecided for whom you will vote for Council Member at-large, I highly recommend reading these informative articles. 

There are twenty-one candidates running for Council Member at-large. Voters may vote for five and the top five vote-getters win.  Note that you do not have to vote for five candidates.  If you only vote for one, that denies four other candidates a vote, so it is almost as if you cast five votes for that one candidate. If I have one candidate that I really want to win I only vote for that one candidate. Given that Nashville is an overwhelmingly Democratic and progressive woke city, if I identify a candidate as conservative or even as a common-sense Democrat, I will vote for that one candidate rather than splitting my vote. If I don't really have a strong favorite, I may vote for more than one. 

Russ Pulley

As of this point in time, I plan on only voting for one candidate and that is Russ Pulley. The reason for that is that if not for his efforts, the Nashville police budget would have been drastically slashed. Due to Pulley's efforts, funding for police that had been cut from the 2020 budget was restored. This was a close vote with only a one vote margin win. If not for the efforts of Russ Pulley, crime would be much worse in Nashville. If not for Russ Pulley, we would have more dead Nashvillians. You can read more about this at this link: Radicals lose fight to defund police, instead Council increases police funding by $2.6 million.

While at this time, I plan to only vote for one at-large candidate and that is Russ Pulley, I am still evaluating the field. I know I will vote for Pulley, but If I am convinced that Pulley will make the runoff anyway, I may vote for more than one candidate, or if I find another candidate who I really like, I may vote for more than one. I am still evaluating the field. 

Below are the Post articles on each of the candidates.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Burkley Allen. Former district representative is running for a second term countywide.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Russ Pulley. Green Hills councilmember is seeking one of five countywide seats.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Quin Evans Segall. Attorney, IDB member is among 21 candidates for five countywide seats.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Marcia Masulla. Nashville Fashion Week co-founder, former Cooper staffer among 21 candidates for five countywide seats.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Jeff Syracuse. Donelson-area district councilmember now seeks countywide post. 

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Zulfat Suara. Representative is seeking another four-year term.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Delishia Porterfield. District 29 councilmember seeking countywide office.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Jonathan Williamson. First-time candidate among 21 vying for five at-large seats.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Indrani Ray. Consultant, health care analyst focusing on budget in run for countywide seat.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Howard Jones. Assistant principal aims at countywide office once more.

Metro Council At-Large Q&A: Arnold Hayes. Community oversight leader among 21 candidates for five countywide seats.

Check back. As more candidates are added, I will update this list. 

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