Outside Money, Local Leaders

Opinion: Out-of-State Dollars Prop Up District 20 Councilmember Rollin Horton

From Douglas E. Jahner
Treasurer, Voices For District 20 PAC

Recently, a zoning matter impacting the Nations and White Bridge neighborhoods of Nashville was approved by our Nashville Planning Commission and subsequently, our City Council, which substantially increases the housing density possibilities for developers. Most of us in Nashville are familiar with the tear-down-one-house-build-two method. For residents in The Nations, welcome to the new era of tear-down-one-house-build-four.

If you were to visit the area today and see all the new development projects, one would think it’s already a high-density area. This new high density zoning initiative is unlike anything we have seen, and I’m certain developers are drooling over the possibilities. This new increased density initiative was led by District 20 councilman Rollin Horton, who has also recently been elected as the chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee. 

The retired banker in me likes to look at numbers. Yesterday, I took a long look at councilmember Horton’s campaign finance reports. Here is what I learned from my research.

From January 2023 to June  2025, Horton took in about $62,150 in campaign contributions. Of that total, $23,595 (38 percent) came from out-of-state donors. That’s right, folks who live outside of Tennessee. An additional $12,045 (19 percent) came from political action committees, or PACs.  

Of the remaining 40 percent, about $13,000 (21 percent) of total contributions came from individuals who live in Nashville, or elsewhere in Tennessee, but don’t live in District 20. The remaining $13,510 (22 percent) came from individuals who actually live in Rollin’s district.

Additionally, Mr. Horton won his last council election with 1,632 votes against 559 for his opponent. District 20 currently has 15,000 registered voters. Just 11 percent of the District 20 registered voters showed up in favor of Horton in 2023. 

Essentially, 80 percent of Mr Horton’s donors, who live outside of District 20, along with 11 percent of the registered voters in the district, determined that Mr Horton was the right man for the job and handed him the keys to the neighborhood’s future zoning laws. 

This financial dynamic exhibits a serious flaw with Nashville city council politics and, subsequently, our property zoning policies. Our council members should be getting 80 percent of their financial support from their current or prospective constituents. 

Mr. Horton was recently quoted as having the support of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Nashville Realtor Association towards this push for increased density. Good for him, but pleasing those organizations should not be his first priority. 

As a West Nashville resident, I choose to get involved because if radical housing development changes can happen in one nearby neighborhood with such lopsided outside dynamics, it can happen to every neighborhood in Nashville. All it takes is having the right misguided, outside-funded council member.

🖋️ Edited by Megan Podsiedlik.

🗳️ Davidson Picks A New Election Administrator After certifying the Democrat and Republican special primary results during yesterday’s Davidson County Election Commission meeting, the body selected John Richardson as the new administrator. Richardson will replace Election Administrator Jeff Roberts, who is stepping down from his position in December after a decade on the job.

The decision came after Richardson officially stepped away from his position on the Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee. Last week, Republican and Democrat commission members couldn’t agree on whether any candidates were politically neutral enough. The bipartisan gesture showed Richardson’s commitment to the position, landing him unanimous support during Monday’s vote.

“At the end of the day, I want to make sure I'm doing what's in the best interest of the citizens of Nashville and making sure they understand that my job is to obey the laws of the great State of Tennessee and adjudicate them and to not let local persuasion get in the way of such,” Richardson told commission members.

If the state law that cuts the council in half goes into effect, Richardson will have his work cut out for him. Roberts previously told the Banner that he wants to facilitate a smooth transition for his replacement. “I know when I came on, you had to jump into the deep end of the pool,” said Roberts. “And it might be better if we brought the next person on with a little less stress right off the bat.”  

👔 O’Connell to Run For a Second Term? Two years into his first term, and it looks like Mayor Freddie O'Connell is already eyeing a second run. According to Axios, unlike former Mayor John Cooper, who decided he wouldn’t seek reelection after four years in the executive office, O’Connell seems optimistic enough to run for a second term. 

O'Connell’s efforts to collaborate with GOP leaders have been strained by federal funding battles and recent immigration operations in Nashville, but he insists local support remains strong. The mayor has consistently redirected the conversation by focusing on statistics that show decreases in certain crimes and new strides being made within Metro Nashville Public Schools. 

“There's research that we prefer negative headlines," O'Connell told Axios. “But I think that's why it's important to me to be out present in the community as much as possible, talking as much as I can about these important milestones."

💣 TN Military Munitions Factory Explosion On Friday, a deadly explosion at the Accurate Energetic Systems munitions facility in Bucksnort, Tennessee, devastated the area. Yesterday afternoon, the Humphreys County and Hickman County Sheriff’s Offices released a list of the 16 people presumed dead from the blast.

“Due to the extensive damage and the presence of hazardous materials, this work is proceeding slowly and methodically to ensure the safety of responders and the integrity of the investigation,” states yesterday’s flash report. As of this morning, the cause of the explosion is still undetermined. Due to the spread of unverified theories, officials are urging the public to avoid spreading misinformation on social media.

HEADLINES

• 🏈 The Tennessee Titans fired Brian Callahan on Monday just six games into his second season as their head coach. Callahan finishes with a 4-19 record, including 1-5 this season. Senior offensive assistant Mike McCoy will take over as interim coach.
• ☢️ The Tennessee Valley Authority has appointed Matt Rasmussen as its new chief nuclear officer, succeeding Tim Rausch, who is retiring after leading TVA’s nuclear operations since 2018. Rasmussen, previously TVA’s senior vice president of nuclear operations, will oversee the agency’s three nuclear plants and continue efforts to expand clean energy generation across the region.

DEVELOPMENT-ish

• 🎓 The Goddard School Opens 20,000 SF Center At Nashville Yards (Now Next)
• ☢️ Nuclear energy startup to invest $280M in East Tennessee (Post)
• The Sicilian Butcher makes Tennessee debut in WeHo (Post)
• Party Fowl set to open Vanderbilt-area location this month (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 MJ Lenderman & The Wind @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $53+, Info

🎸 Doom Mutual @ DRKMTTR, 8p, $14.23, Info

🪕 The French Family Band @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info

🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $10, Info‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik and Camelia Brennan.