NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — While Republicans have taken a firm grasp of most elected offices across Tennessee, Nashville voters have reliably kept the state's capital in the Democratic column.
But a closer-than-expected mayor's race is filling Republicans with hope — and Democrats with dread — that the political tables could be turned when voters go to the polls tomorrow to decide between Councilwoman Megan Barry and hedge fund manager David Fox.
Barry is trying to capitalize on the political sentiment in a city that last year voted 2-to-1 against giving state lawmakers more power to regulate abortion. Metro voters twice overwhelmingly chose President Barack Obama and in 2009 soundly rejected requiring all government business be done in English.
Fox is casting Barry as too focused on social issues to responsibly run the city.