Women capture all five at-large Nashville council seats and put Tennessee on notice

David Plazas, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
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Women made history by capturing all five Metro Council at-large seats in Thursday’s municipal runoff election.

The victors reflect the inclusive, progressive nature of Nashville at time of pushback from the Tennessee General Assembly on diversity, reproductive and LGBTQ rights, and the city’s authority to govern itself.

Incumbent Zulfat Suara, an American Muslim originally from Nigeria, won enough votes in the Aug. 3 general election to avoid the Sept. 14 runoff.

An accountant by trade, Suara of Bellevue is the first Black person to hold the first chair among the at-large councilors.

“It’s exciting,” Suara said on a live elections program on News Channel 5. “We’ve gone a long way.”

Metro Council At-Large members (2023-2027) in Nashville (clockwise): Zulfat Suara, Delishia Porterfield, Olivia Hill, Burkley Allen and Quin Evans-Segall
Metro Council At-Large members (2023-2027) in Nashville (clockwise): Zulfat Suara, Delishia Porterfield, Olivia Hill, Burkley Allen and Quin Evans-Segall

“The guys have had their turn. I think it’s time women take over,” she joked.

She is joined by a teacher and union organizer, a lawyer and expert on government relations, a mechanical engineer, and a Navy veteran and former plant supervisor, who won their seats on Thursday. One is Black and the others are white. One is also transgender.

View all results: Nashville runoff election: Freddie O'Connell to be city's next mayor

They are, in order of vote total:

  • Delishia Porterfield of Southeast Nashville, the one-term District 29 council member, Stand Up Nashville director of leadership and advocacy and former teacher

  • Quin Evans-Segall of Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood, a real estate and finance attorney at Rebekah Fisher & Associates PLLC

  • Burkley Allen also of Belmont-Hillsboro, an I.C. Thomasson Associate engineer and incumbent Metro Council At-Large member and former district council member

  • Olivia Hill of Bellevue, the veteran and former Vanderbilt plant manager who is the first trans member elected to the Council

All five are vocal, assertive voices who align on the common interests of improving affordable housing and infrastructure and making government more transparent, they told The Tennessean editorial board in its candidate questionnaire.

However, they are not a monolithic group. Suara, for example, favored the new Titans stadium while Porterfield did not, though the latter voted for it in order to try to get a procedural vote to delay it.

The majority of the Council is now made up women presided by a new female vice mayor, Angie Henderson, who defeated incumbent Jim Shulman on Aug. 3.

In recent years, Tennessee has made abortion effectively illegal, passed more anti-LGBTQ legislation than other state in the nation, and made efforts over the years to target Muslims in the community.

The At-Large council members will be strong voices for Nashville who may end up frustrating lawmakers, but who also will be dedicated to defending their constituents against attacks and encroachments on their human and civil rights.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters.. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville election: Women win all at-large seats, challenge Tennessee