Mayoral attack ad names Nashville Civil Rights leader who had nothing to do with it

A new attack ad targeting mayoral candidate Freddie O'Connell invokes the name of a prominent Black pastor and Civil Rights leader.

But the 15-second spot was crafted without the pastor's input or approval, and paid for by the unregistered "Friends of Enoch Fuzz" under the direction of two white Nashville businessmen.

Fuzz is a longtime pastor at North Nashville's Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church, where O'Connell attended a service last week.

The ad, first reported by The Nashville Banner, slams O'Connell's approach to transit, which champions public transportation and multimodal infrastructure to improve safety and connectivity for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Local businessmen Bobby Joslin and Bill Hostettler run "Friends of Enoch Fuzz," according to Federal Communications Commission paperwork filed with three local news stations: WKRN (Channel 2), WSMV (Channel 4) and WTVF (Channel 5). The group was not registered as a political action committee or as an LLC as of Monday afternoon.

Hostettler confirmed Monday that Fuzz had no part in the creation nor approval of the ad.

Fuzz could not be reached for comment, but told O'Connell, who currently represents District 19 on Nashville's council, "not to be distracted by it and to run a positive campaign," according to O'Connell's team.

O'Connell said he hopes the pair "rethink this embarrassment and take it down, if for no other reason than to respect Pastor Fuzz."

Both have supported competitor Matt Wiltshire's campaign for the mayoral seat, and Hostettler contributed $1,800 each to Jeff Yarbro and Jim Gingrich's campaigns (Gingrich suspended his campaign on July 17 but his name will remain on the ballot).

"It would be laughable if it weren't shameful that yet another person who's been working against Nashville at the state legislature — while supporting one of my opponents — has dragged a Civil Rights leader into dirty politics without his knowledge while he's seriously ill," O'Connell said in a written statement.

Fuzz has been battling stage four lung cancer since 2020.

Hostettler is named as the contact for the group, listing an address, phone number and email address connected to HND Realty LLC, a property management company he co-founded with Carl Neuhoff in 1998.

When reached about the group, Hostettler said "as friends, we want anybody but Freddie."

Hostettler later apologized "for the confusion" via text, saying he and Joslin should add their names to the ad: "Friends of Enoch, Bobby and Bill."

Joslin — a pilot, owner of local business Joslin and Son Signs and well-known Republican fundraiser — is one of six state-appointed members of the newly restructured Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board. The Nashville mayor previously controlled board appointments, but a state law passed in the last legislative session reconstituted the board, giving state officials power to appoint six seats, leaving mayoral control over two. Nashville is suing the state in an attempt to block the law, which the city says is an unconstitutional overreach against local power.

A longtime member of the board, Joslin was re-appointed by House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville.

The ad isn't the first to criticize O'Connell, who has been the target of three other attack ads this election season paid for by Broadway honky tonk owner Steve Smith.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville mayoral election: Ad names pastor Enoch Fuzz without approval