by Rod Williams, Oct. 23, 2023- Gabrielle Hanson got swamped in her race to become mayor of Franklin. Mayor Ken Moore won by a landslide getting 12,822 votes or 79% of the vote, compared to Hanson's 3,322 votes or 21%. In anybody's book, that is a landslide. 
Mayor Ken Moore (right) wins reelection,
beating challenger Gabrielle Hanson (left) in a
landslide
I am relieved. I thought the race would be close. I thought Hanson might win. It should not have been close and I should have not expected it to be. However, Gabrielle Hanson's supporters were energetic and loud. They also thought God was on their side. I wasn't buying the God connection; I'm not quite sure God is a Trump Republican. Her supporters were so sure of victory; however, I thought maybe they had reason to be.
Actually, my source of information was limited, only hearing from a few people in person and a few more on social media. However, the press treated it as a close race, and I never saw any polling. Given, that the Williamson County Republican Party has been taken over by the Trumpinistas, I thought maybe that portended a trend. Another reason I wrongly thought the race might be close, is that The Pamphleteer, a local source of news and analysist that I respect, had published a piece called The Battle of Franklin, in which they, in detail, laid out the path to victory for Gabreille Hanson. Wow, they got it wrong. I will be less trusting of their analytical skills in the future.
If Franklin would have elected Hanson, it would have indicated that there was no hope for what until Trump were considered mainstream Republicans. It would have indicated that the party was beyond hope of redemption. If a person like Hanson could have won in Franklin, then the worst of the Trumpinistas could win in any place that was not solidly Democrat. The story of this race had already made national and international news. A Hanson win would have told the world that Trumpism was not only a national phenomenon at the top but had sunk deep roots to where little Trumpinistas could win anywhere. If the wealthy, educated, well-governed, decent, conservative, well-mannered people of Franklin had elected Hanson, the message would be that America had truly changed.
The race between Mayor Ken Moore and Gabrielle Hanson could not have been a clearer choice facing Republicans. Both Moore and Hanson were Republicans running in a non-partisan race. Moore had been a successful mayor serving since 2011. In 2018 the Tennessee Municiple League named him mayor of the year. He is an orthopedic surgeon and has served as president of the Tennessee Orthopedic Society. He is a member of the Franklin Rotary Club, Building Lives Foundation Board, TMA Group Board, Williamson County and Franklin Chamber of Commerce Board, and chairman of the Columbia State Foundation Board. He is a Sunday school teacher at the Franklin First United Methodist Church. He is a solid citizen and a good man.
Hanson had numerous scandals surrounding her. She was once arrested for abetting prostitution. She made opposition to the city granting a permit for a gay Pride event a major part of her campaign, then it was revealed that a few years earlier in Chicago, her husband marched in a gay Pride parade wearing nothing but American flag Speedos. She posted a picture of her at an event which she claimed was her with her supporters. The people with whom she was pictured were not her supporters and it was not a campaign event. She associated with self-identified neo-Nazis and White nationalist and refused to denounce them. She floated bogus conspiracy theories about the Covenant School shooting. And there was more, but it appeared it did not seem to daunt her support. Hanson is a defender of White nationalist, a hypocrite, and a con artist. Thankfully, she lost. There is hope for the Republican Party, and America.
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