Mayoral candidate Heidi Campbell makes her case
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Photo: courtesy of the Campbell campaign
Growing up in Nashville, mayor wasn't Heidi Campbell's dream job.
- "I actually wanted to be a rock star," she tells Axios. "And that didn't work out."
But Campbell, who is now a state senator, says her path through music and into government has prepared her to lead the city.
Flashback: Campbell sang and wrote songs with her band The Keep, "but we didn't make any money." So she started licensing their music for film and television.
- That led her to start a music licensing business and get her MBA at Vanderbilt University. Then she worked as a music industry executive.
- After speaking out against a development proposal in Oak Hill, she ran for local office and eventually became mayor of the Nashville satellite city.
- In 2020, she beat an incumbent Republican to win a spot in the state Senate.
She lost a 2022 run for Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, which was redrawn to favor Republicans.
- "That was about defending Nashville," Campbell says.
- "This is an extension of that," she says of her mayoral run. "It's about stepping up to defend Nashville from state overreach and very serious issues of livability."
Why she's running: "The relationship with the state is a problem that we ignore to our peril. It's a very complicated situation, and it requires somebody who not only understands what's going on in the state, but also has relationships with people in the state legislature," Campbell says.
- "If we don't calm down the conversation, things are just going to get worse for Nashville."
She says her experiences at the local and state levels will help her navigate those frayed relationships as well as the city's other challenges, including affordability.
- "A lot of the problems that we are facing could be improved dramatically with good communication and increasing operational efficiencies," she says.
What she'd do on Day One: "We need to do a full and comprehensive survey of all of our public lands [to] identify parcels that would be viable for public housing," she says.
- Campbell says she'd also work to streamline permitting to avoid "bottlenecks" in affordable housing construction.
- She says she'd also invest in early child care and education.
Campbell got in the race later than many of her opponents, but she points to her support from legislative colleagues as evidence that she is ready to lead.
- "This is about the very distinct set of problems that we're facing right now and feeling that I have the unique ability to address those."
Neighborhood: A Nashville native, Campbell currently lives in Oak Hill.
Favorite weekend activity: "Hanging out with my family," including soccer matches and school plays.
Favorite live music experience: There are many to choose from, but Campbell recalled seeing Stevie Ray Vaughan play at Vanderbilt. "That might have been the most incredible show."
Favorite Nashville meal: Margot and Sunflower Cafe.