Recalls, Endorsements, Appointments, Oh My!
Good afternoon, everyone. As we approach the final day of voting for the D7 primary, endorsements are rolling in, people are dropping out, and mud slinging is at an all-time high... Meanwhile, West Nashville residents are so upset with their councilmember that they're launching a recall... And Metro government is having a hard time finding someone to officiate elections in the county.
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❌ Horton Faces The Downside Of Upzoning On Friday, a petition to recall Councilmember Rollin Horton (District 20) was filed. The recall comes in the wake of Horton’s transformative bill upzoning the Nations neighborhood despite pushback from residents. To successfully trigger a recall, the petitioners have thirty days to collect signatures from at least fifteen percent of registered voters in Horton’s district.
The council will cover more contentious zoning bills during this week’s meeting, which will take place on Thursday instead of Tuesday given the special primary election in District 7. The bill, which creates two new zoning districts allowing for multifamily units on single family lots, is on public hearing. According to Axios, it will likely be deferred despite the Planning Commission’s recent approval of the legislation as substituted.
In his most recent District 23 newsletter, Councilmember Thom Druffel promised he would not support nor sponsor upzoning proposals at council. “I can assure you I would not approve of the new zoning type in our district,” he wrote before warning that he is term limited and will only serve two more years. “We will have to be very diligent in that the next CM has the same philosophy and commitment.”
📣 Big Endorsement in D7 & More Disinformation Afoot? On Friday, President Donald Trump endorsed Matt Van Epps on Truth Social in the GOP primary for District 7. Within hours, rival candidate, state Representative Lee Reeves, bowed out of the race and endorsed Van Epps in support of the commander-in-chief’s decision.
In other news, presidentially pardoned J6er and fellow D7 candidate Stewart Parks issued a press release claiming Van Epps’ team is falsely asserting that Parks has also left the race and is endorsing Van Epps.
Matt Van Epps’ campaign has been calling our supporters over the weekend and telling them that we have suspended our campaign and that I subsequently endorsed Matt Van Epps. This is more than false—it’s a slanderous lie designed to trick voters into thinking they don’t have any options when they vote on Tuesday.
Adding to the chaos, John Rich, who endorsed state Representative Jody Barrett earlier in the race, released a video with a former Tennessee National Guardsman who was kicked out of the military under Van Epps leadership during COVID.
“So Matt Van Epps said, ‘Take the jab or you will not be able to run for public office, you owe us $12,000, and we'll give you…other than honorable discharge,’” Rich paraphrased Jack Bouchard, who faced repercussions for refusing the Covid vaccination under religious exemption. “Meanwhile, he's running for Congress right now in district seven, the election’s October 7, and…nobody knows this story.”
The special primary election for the 7th Congressional District race to replace Mark Green is tomorrow, October 7.
🗳️ No Replacement For Nashville Administrator of Elections The Davidson County Election Commission is still in search of a new administrator of elections despite hearing from potential candidates during Friday’s meeting. Instead, the body decided to reopen the application period for another week.
According to the Banner, during interviews for the position, Republican and Democrat commission members couldn’t agree on whether any candidates were politically neutral enough. The current administrator, Jeff Rocberts, is retiring from the position in December after nearly a decade on the job. The Election Commission has another meeting scheduled for Monday, October 13.
HEADLINES
- 🪂 A skydiving accident near Ashland City Highway left one person dead and another rescued after a tandem jump went wrong. Authorities say the instructor appeared to fall without a parachute, while the student became tangled in a tree and was later rescued with non-life-threatening injuries. The incident occurred near John C. Tune Airport and remains under investigation by local authorities and the FAA.
- 🏈 The Titans stole a victory on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, ending their 10-game losing streak and garnering Rookie QB Cam Ward his first victory as an NFL player. The two-toned blue crept within striking distance after the Cardinals fumbled a Ward interception and the Titans recovered it for a TD. Ward went 13 of 18 passes for 193 yards in the fourth quarter and led the team to an easy field goal in the final two minutes of the game.
DEVELOPMENT
- $65M construction loan secured for luxury Franklin apartments (NBJ)
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
🎸 Ziggy Marley and Burning Spear @ Ryman Auditorium, 7p, $43+, Info
🎸 Wisp @ The Basement East, 7p, $33.44, Info
🪕 The Roots Gospel Gathering @ Station Inn, 6p, $20, Info
🪕 Kyle Tuttle's Bluegrass Monday @ Dee's Lounge, 6p, $10, Info
🪕 Val Storey, Carl Jackson, Larry Cordle & New Monday @ Station Inn, 8p, $20, Info
💀 Grateful Monday @ Acme Feed & Seed, 7p, Free, Info
🕺 Motown Monday @ The 5 Spot, 9p, $5, Info
📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.
Today's newsletter is brought to you by Davis Hunt, Megan Podsiedlik and Camelia Brennan.