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Shakeup in House Democratic Caucus: Stewart declines to run again, two reps announce run
State Rep.Mike Stewart will not run for reelection as chair of the Democratic House Caucus and Friday, two Nashville state representatives announced they are running to lead the group. Rep. John Ray Clemmons, who represents West Nashville District 55, was the first out of the gate. He shared a letter with the Tennessee Lookout he […]
Live Election Coverage 2020
Join the staff of the Tennessee Lookout as we bring you coverage throughout Election Day 2020 of the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Marquita Bradshaw and Republican Bill Hagerty, as well as state house and senate races.
Commentary: Donald Trump exploits Southern class insecurities
When venture capitalist J.D. Vance published his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy” in the summer of 2016, columnists aplenty critiqued the book as an explanation for white voters’ affection for Donald Trump. Vance chronicles his childhood and youth growing up in a dysfunctional Appalachian family, rife with substance abuse, economic instability and class resentment but through hard […]
Pictures at an exhibition
Attendance at Thursday’s presidential debate was strictly limited out of deference to the risks posed by COVID-19, but hundreds of revelers and protesters lined the streets of Nashville to air their political opinions. President Donald Trump arrived in Nashville around 3 p.m. and went first to a $250,000 per person fundraiser at the downtown J.W. […]
Belmont debate: Trump and Biden make closing arguments
Just 12 days before election day and with millions of people having already voted, Trump squared off against Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the final presidential debate at Belmont University. According to Real Clear Politics’ polling average, Biden led Trump by 7.9 points nationally and by 4.6 points in the swing states. The FiveThirtyEight election […]
Labor leaders address needs from presidential candidates
Nobody — teachers nor students — should set foot in classrooms until infrastructure has been fixed, class sizes are smaller and Metro Nashville hires more teachers, said Amanda Kail, president of the Metro Nashville Education Association Thursday morning. Kail was part of a coalition speaking to the needs of Tennessee workers in advance of Thursday […]
Commentary: Tennesseans are cheated by failure of candidates to debate
“A presidential debate is a job interview. And voters look for certain traits in people applying to be president,” said journalist Ron Fournier. You can substitute ‘congressional’ or ‘state house’ for ‘president,’ but here we are, barreling toward the Nov. 3 election and we will apparently get there with little opportunity for Tennesseans to screen […]
In Nashville, political weekend events on both ends of the spectrum
The combination of a sunny and warm fall day and election season meant activists from both left and right organized weekend events in Nashville and photographers Alex Kent and Ray DiPietro captured the scenes. Saturday morning started with a Women’s March organized by Power Together, which customarily hosts the January Women’s March that was first […]
Commentary: Same sex marriage is a civil right
I didn’t realize Sunday was “National Coming Out Day” until I logged into Facebook and began reading my friends’ stories of how they confronted their sexuality and told their family and friends they weren’t straight. A few, from people who always knew their sexual orientation and were comfortable with it, were triumphant. Most had more […]
Two Tennessee communities rank among top 50 Trump donors
Two Tennessee zip codes rank among the top 50 in the U.S. in amount of donations given to President Donald Trump. Brentwood zip code 37027 came in at number 29, with 1,736 donations for a total of $198,279. The average donation in 37027 was $114.. Green Hills zip code 37215 ranked 24th, with 825 donors […]
Editor’s column: Assessing John Cooper
One year after John Cooper was inaugurated Nashville mayor, he’s facing the possibility of seeing his signature tax increase rolled back by referendum and talk of a recall campaign. Cooper knocked off incumbent Mayor David Briley, first besting him in the August 2019 general election by 10% and then clinching the seat by a whopping […]
Former Metro Councilmember Tony Tenpenny dies of COVID-19
Tony Tenpenny, who served on Nashville’s Metro Council 2011-2015, died of COVID-19 early Sunday morning. Vice-Mayor Jim Shulman confirmed Tenpenny’s death in a statement to WKRN Channel 2. Tenpenny was first hospitalized in early August and according to Facebook posts, had been on a ventilator for most of September. Shulman said Tenpenny had underlying medical […]