NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Starting Friday, voters will get a chance to choose who will become Nashville's next mayor. If no one gets more than half the vote after the August election day, the top two candidates will head to a runoff in September.
We're now getting a better idea about which candidates are starting to get more attention.
According to a new independent poll conducted by Music City Research, 20% of voters support Freddie O'Connell, 15% support Matt Wiltshire and 13% support Alice Rolli. The other candidates polled in the single digits.
If there was a candidate named "undecided" they would be the winner. Another 26% of Nashville voters say they're still narrowing their choice down.
"That’s a big number," said Steve Cavendish, editor of the Nashville Banner. "I’ve talked to experienced people, high information voters, people that live this stuff who have not made up their mind on who they’re going to vote for."
But with Alice Rolli being a prominent conservative in the race, Cavendish thinks she has a solid chance. "I think she has the clearest lane of anybody but she has to consolidate a bunch of that Republican and conservative support," said Cavendish. Natisha Brooks is also running as a Republican in the mayoral race.
Concerns about Music City Research's Poll
NewsChannel 5 made several attempts to reach Music City Research, who conducted the poll, but were unsuccessful. MCR does not have a website and a Facebook page for an account with the same name appears to be deactivated. NewsChannel 5 was also unsuccessful in finding a phone number for Music City Research.
One of the mayoral campaigns featured in the poll reached out to NewsChannel 5 on Thursday with concerns about the range of Nashville residents sampled to conduct the poll. They pointed out that 10% of the poll's responses come from just one zip code while other zip codes in Davidson County are omitted entirely.
Fundraising
Cavendish is also looking at fundraising reports.
"Matt Wiltshire has consistently raised more money than anybody else. He’s a very good fundraiser," he said.
Behind Wiltshire is Jeff Yarbro and Heidi Campbell who both raised more than $300,000 in the second quarter of 2023. "If people are willing to write a check for you, they’re usually willing to tell people about you," said Cavendish.
With that many names in contention, Cavendish says it's a clear sign it could be a razor-tight race. "It may be late into the night before we have an idea of who our two candidates are for the runoff in September," he said.
The first day of Early Voting in Nashville is Friday. Click here for times and locations for each early voting precinct.
