The Nashville Mayoral Debates debut on May 18: Attend or watch live | Editorial

The race to become the 10^th mayor of Nashville-Davidson County government is heating up.

Candidates are airing commercials, telling their stories on social media, and participating in countless community forums organized by civic, business and community groups.

As of May 17, there were 15 people who picked up petitions from the Davidson County Election Commission to run for mayor.

The qualifying deadline is not until Thursday, May 18. That same evening, The Tennessean along with partners News Channel 5, Belmont University, American Baptist College and the League of Women Voters of Nashville are hosting the first of four planned events called The Nashville Mayoral Debates.

Debates on May 18 and June 22 will be at Belmont’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, at ABC on July 6 and will return to Belmont on Aug. 24 for a runoff debate between the two top vote getters in the Aug. 3 primary election.

After much deliberation with our partners, we decided to limit the number of mayoral candidates on stage for the first debate to nine, given our commitment to asking substantive questions in a limited 90-minute period.

The rationale behind the difficult decision in choosing these candidates came down to two factors: Campaign funds and elective office.

We invited those who had raised at least $50,000 by the March 31 reporting period of the Davidson County Election Commission and also candidates who presently hold elective office in a county or legislative capacity. The figures come from the commission’s finance portal.

Here is who we invited to be on stage:

It is not a perfect formula, but we believe it will allow us to focus on candidates who have made a concerted and organized effort to court voters’ support and/or who have a record of current public service. We will revisit the formula for each subsequent debate.

The Tennessean editorial board has been communicating with candidates for mayor, vice mayor and Metro Council over the last several weeks, inviting them to fill out our questionnaire that will be published online and in print in June. That is because the voter registration deadline is July 5 and early voting starts on July 14. The last day to request an absentee ballot is July 27.

We encourage all citizens to get to know the candidates and attend or watch the debates to make a decision that will have a generational impact on the future of Nashville, which is considered one of two “supernova” cities by the Urban Land Institute.

Reserve your ticket here.

Find more information at: www.tennessean.com/opinion.

Regrettably, voter turnout is historically low. The 2019 runoff election between current Mayor John Cooper and former Mayor David Briley yielded only a 20% turnout.

As a reminder, here is the list of Metro Nashville’s mayors:

• Beverly Briley, 1963 to 1975

• Richard Fulton, 1975 to 1987

• Bill Boner, 1987 to 1991

• Phil Bredesen, 1991 to 1999

• Bill Purcell, 1999 to 2007

• Karl Dean, 2007 to 2015

• Megan Barry, 2015 to 2018

• David Briley, 2018 to 2019

• John Cooper, 2019 to Present (not seeking re-election)

This is the 60^th anniversary of the formation of the consolidated city-county Metro Government, which should encourage citizens to be especially attentive to the challenges ahead.

Take this opportunity to become an informed, engaged and active citizen.

-- The Tennessean Editorial Board.

This editorial was written by Opinion and Engagement Director David Plazas on behalf of the editorial board, which comprises Editor-in-Chief Michael A. Anastasi, Content Strategist Gary Estwick, Deputy Middle Tennessee Editor Kerri Bartlett and Plaza. Contact him at dplazas@tennessean.com or (615) 259-8063.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: The Nashville Mayoral Debates debut on May 18: Attend or watch live