Henderson unseats Shulman; progressives dominate Metro Council races

Metro Councilmember Angie Henderson unseated incumbent Jim Shulman to become Nashville's next vice mayor.

Of note: Many of the council races tilted toward progressives.

At-large Metro Councilmember Zulfat Suara was re-elected to a four-year term. She was the only at-large candidate in a 21-person field to earn more than 10% of the vote and avoid a runoff.

A runoff between eight candidates will decide who fills the remaining four at-large seats.

• Councilmember Delishia Porterfield, a progressive favorite, is one of eight candidates to reach the runoff.
• Olivia Hill, the first trans woman to appear on a ballot in Tennessee, also qualified.
• The other candidates are incumbent at-large Councilmember Burkley Allen, Howard Jones, Quin Evans-Segall, Councilmember Russ Pulley, Chris Cheng and Councilmember Jeff Syracuse.

Progressives were decisive winners in races against business-backed candidates.

• Of the 11 district candidates backed by the Nashville Justice League, a coalition of progressive activist organizations, 10 won their elections. The only blemish was District 9, where incumbent Tonya Hancock narrowly defeated Stephanie Montenegro.
• Three of the Justice League's four preferred at-large candidates (Porterfield, Hill and Evans-Segall) qualified for the runoff.