Ambulances and Elections: Which way are we going, Nashville?

It has taken me about 36 hours to process what has happened on Thursday, but I believe Nashville is still headed in the right direction for those of us who care about equality.

Ambulances: On Thursday, as I was heading to the Madison Library to hold a sign for Nancy VanReece's Metro Council campaign, I got a call from Jerry Jones of Out & About Newspaper about a Nashville Fire Department paramedic who posted anti-gay comments in a Facebook group, some of them specifically about co-workers. The story has also been covered by WSMV and WTVF. The Fire Department is handling the incident responsibly; the coverage even indicates the paradmedic's co-workers gave him Hell about his comments. And no one should be surprised because this is exactly what we've been working for since 2007 when our election involvement was based on passing the 2009 Metro non-discrimination ordinance that protects government employees from job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. I should also point out that the Nashville Firefighters' union endorsed that ordinance, so it doesn't shock me that they're serious about good working conditions for all their members. Still, it's a nice confirmation that the workplace is changing for the better in Metro.

Elections: Election night was more of a mixed bag in terms of what we hoped for, but the results still bode well for advancing good public policy when the new Metro Government takes office.

*Overall: Mayor Karl Dean, the most pro-equality executive in the history of Tennessee, won easy re-election as did Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors, who has always been clearly on the side of fairness for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Three of our five TEP PAC-endorsed Council At-Large candidates (Megan Barry, Ronnie Steine, and Jerry Maynard) won their spots outright and will not face a runoff, with Barry and Steine as the top vote recipients. And even though they didn't make the cut, Vivian Wilhoite and Sam Coleman came in 7th and 8th in a crowded field and it has been great working with them both. A total of 18 of our endorsed Council candidates won outright on Election Day and we're particularly happy about the outcome for Fabian Bedne, the first Hispanic person elected in Nashville. Four of our endorsed candidates are in a runoff, including Peter Westerholm, TEP's former public policy chair. Additionally, Bo Mitchell, who has a perfect voting record on equality bills, won outright as did others candidates with whom we can work. So we should have a pro-equality majority in the new Metro Government.

*Departing Foes: Eric Crafton and Jim Hodge, two vocal opponents of equality measures, will not be returning when the new Council is sworn in. I won't miss the sneering from one or the comparison of homosexuality to smoking from the other.

*Hard Losses: The hardest losses were in districts 16, 8, and 18. Councilwoman Anna Page has a perfect voting record on equality bills and it is very sad that she wasn't reelected. Districts 8 and 18 gave us hope for openly gay Council Members emerging victorious from competitive races, but we'll have to wait a little longer for that. First-time candidate Nancy VanReece ran a great race in a moderate to conservative district and I'd say she's competitive for the seat if she chooses to seek it in four years. David Glasgow came so close this time, but I know he will continue to find ways to serve Nashville and his neighbors in the 18th. They both make our city proud.

Nashville is still moving forward.

-Chris Sanders

Election Day in Nashville: Our Endorsements: Get out the Vote

It's Election Day in Nashville. Please, get out and vote. Here is a link to the list of our TEP PAC endorsements.

-Chris Sanders

Equality voters are turning out in Nashville

I got the list of voters from the Davidson County Election Commission today. 245 people voted at the Howard School today and 28 of them (about 11.4% of the total) are on the TEP list. A few of them are pictured at right. I took out any names that I knew were voting at this location for another reason (for example, because they are a candidate or because they came as part of the group from the early vote breakfast this morning). If we were to count some of these other folks who hold equality as a value, the number would be higher.

I haven't looked at the other locations, but it appears that our community and equality-minded voters in general are turning out the vote and could make a difference in this election.

The motivation is strong this time for many reasons--the attacks in the Legislature, the realization that having a pro-equality Metro Government to stand against them is important, and the opportunity to elect openly gay candidates.

Early voting continues through July 30 with Election Day on August 4. If you haven't voted, you can find out details about where and when at the Election Commission's site.

-Chris Sanders

Nashville Pride Political Report

Despite the rain and wind, 2011 will go down as another great year for Nashville Pride. Congratulations to the organizers for putting together a great festival.

It was a good day for politics, too. We used the TEP booth to get word out about our TEP PAC endorsed candidates for Metro races. Among our endorsed candidates who attended were Council Members At-Large Ronnie Steine and Megan Barry, Mayor Karl Dean and District 19 Council Member Erica Gilmore who both spoke from the main stage, and District 6 candidate Peter Westerholm and District 18 candidate David Glasgow. There may have been others and I'm sorry if I missed anyone. By the way, it was also great to see the Davidson County Democratic Women and the Davidson County Young Democrats out at Pride.

There was concern about HB600 and Don't Say Gay among some of those attending, but we did our best to make the case that we can continue to fight back in the face of a Legislature bent of putting discrimination into law. There's never been a more important time to do so.

-Chris Sanders

TEP PAC announces endorsements in 2010 state legislative races

21 September 2010

For Immediate Release

Nashville- Tennessee Equality Project’s Political Action Committee, TEP PAC, has announced its 2010 General Assembly Candidate Endorsements*. Following the Primary Elections, TEP PAC reviewed legislative candidates’ records and policy positions for legislative districts throughout Tennessee. After careful deliberation, the following candidates were endorsed.

District 49- Representative Kent Coleman (D), Murfreesboro – part of Rutherford Co.

District 50- Representative Gary Moore (D), Joelton – part of Davidson Co.

District 51- Representative Mike Turner (D), Old Hickory – part of Davidson Co.

District 55- Representative Gary Odom (D), Nashville – part of Davidson Co.

District 59- Representative Sherry Jones (D), Nashville – part of Davidson Co.

District 60- Metro Councilman Sam Coleman (D), Antioch- part of Davidson Co.

District 85- Representative Johnnie Turner (D), Memphis – part of Shelby Co.

District 89- Representative Jeanne Richardson (D), Memphis – part of Shelby Co.

What does it mean when TEP PAC endorses a candidate? “The endorsement is a commitment to provide volunteers to work for campaigns- from phone banking to walking districts. TEP PAC will also assist in raising money for our endorsed candidates,” says Jenny Ford, TEP PAC chair. “These individuals stand behind our mission to promote equality for all, and we intend to do everything we can to get these candidates elected and in office to serve our state wisely and fairly,” Ford emphasizes. This is the second time the TEP PAC has endorsed candidates for the General Assembly.

If you would like to assist these candidates and TEP Steering Committees, please contact Chris Sanders at chris@tnequalityproject.com. To learn more about TEP PAC, along with TEP Foundation and TEP, please become our friend on Facebook and visit our website www.tnequalityproject.com .

*- The endorsements by TEP PAC do not necessarily reflect the position of Tennessee Equality Project’s Board or membership.

Knox County Election Commission a Pioneer in Open Government

The Knox County Election Commission does a great job of making candidate information public. They use a Facebook page to make citizens quickly aware of all kinds of candidate information that you'd normally have to hope reporters would find. Of course, you can always go down to a county election commission, ask for the information, and try to fish out the change for the copies. But in Knox County, you know who's running for office within minutes of a candidate designating a treasurer. You also get easy access to financial disclosures. I hope the other county election commissions around the state will find similar ways of making this information easy to find.

Early Voting in the 18th

Based on everything I've heard, the early voting turnout in District 18 is on the light side. When I was at the Election Commission this morning, the turnout was really low. John Ray Clemmons' campaign was represented along with David Glasgow's.

On Friday night several of us walked the neighborhood leaving information on early voting at houses on our routes. See below for a picture of the some of the members of the walk team wearing their snazzy shirts. Today the campaign held an early voting tail gate in the Election Commission parking lot.

Memphis City Council Superdistrict 9, Position 1 seat

More analysis on the vacant Memphis City Council Superdistrict 9, Position 1 seat from Blake Fontenay of the Commerical Appeal. The outcome of this race will be hard to predict.

Upper East TN races

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=62312