Early voting set to begin on relatively sleepy Nashville election
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Next month's election may not leave you sitting at your laptop and frantically refreshing the results after polls close.
The big picture: A lack of contested races down ballot and a governor's race with a clear frontrunner will leave little to the imagination on Aug. 6.
The (lack of) intrigue: Take the local elections on next month's ballot: None of the school board or judge candidates, who are all Democrats, have Republican challengers.
- Nashville will elect a new county clerk, but it's a forgone conclusion it will be former Councilmember Sharon Hurt.
- Other local offices, like the sheriff, register of deeds and juvenile court clerk, all feature incumbent Democrats running unopposed.
Friction point: The main event on the ballot is the race to replace term-limited Gov. Bill Lee. But recent polling hardly paints the picture of a nail-biter.
- U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn is the heavy favorite. U.S. Rep. John Rose released polling show him closing the gap, though even his own internals give Blackburn a 15-point lead.
- Blackburn's own polling shows her up by 31 points.
- Jerri Green is the favorite to win the Democratic primary for governor.
U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty has is unopposed in his Republican primary.
Yes, but: There are some competitive mid-ballot races.
Zoom in: The most closely watched local election is the District 59 Democratic primary to replace state Rep. Caleb Hemmer, who decided not to seek reelection. The district covers parts of west and south Nashville.
- Four Democrats are battling it out in a competitive race: Rick Ewing, Angie Lawless, Mark Proctor and Beth West.
- Go deeper: Read the Nashville Banner's profile of the District 59 primary
Zoom out: The Aug. 6 ballot also marks the debut of Nashville's newly redrawn congressional districts.
District 4: Incumbent Rep. Scott DesJarlais faces three Republican primary challengers, while five candidates are competing on the Democratic side.
District 6: In the Republican primary to replace Rose in the U.S. House, the top contenders are state Rep. Johnny Garrett and former Congressmember Van Hilleary.
District 7: Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn, who won a special election primary last year, isn't running again.
- State Rep. Vincent Dixie and Darden Copeland are once again vying for the Democratic nomination, as is former Councilmember Salettta Holloway.
- Incumbent U.S. Rep. Matt Van Epps is unopposed on the Republican ballot.
What we're watching: Perhaps the biggest open question is whether there will be any election glitches.
- Republicans frantically redrew Tennessee's U.S. House districts in May to give the GOP a 9-0 advantage. The last time the legislature redistricted in 2022, some Nashville voters got sent to the wrong precincts.
- Davidson County Election Commission member Kenny Byrd has expressed concerns that there wasn't enough time to implement the new House map smoothly.
State of play: The Secretary of State's site allows you to search your new district.
- Early voting starts Friday and runs through Aug. 1. Election Day is Aug. 6.