The Candidate and Super Volunteer Quick Book

Getting started

How Metro is organized

Davidson County operates under a consolidated city-county government called the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. City and county offices are unified under “Metro Government,” meaning most local offices are countywide or district-based Metro positions.

The three branches of Metro Government

Legislative branch: Metro Council

The Metro Council is the legislative branch. It passes ordinances, sets budgets, and approves major decisions. The Council has 40 members, 35 district seats and 5 at-large, with a Vice Mayor presiding.

Executive branch: Mayor and Vice Mayor

The Executive Branch comprises the Mayor and Vice Mayor, independently elected, functioning in an administrative and veto capacity to the Metro Council. The Executive Branch serves as chief executive of the entire county and city; proposes budgets, enforces laws, and oversees departments; and can veto Council legislation.

Judicial branch: Metro Courts

The Metro Courts include General Sessions judges, Criminal Court judges, and Circuit and Chancery Court judges.

Independently elected countywide officials

These positions operate independently from Metro as outlined in their enabling ordinances and statutory roles:

• Sheriff (runs the jail, not Metro Police)
• District Attorney (prosecutor)
• Public Defender
• Assessor of Property
• Register of Deeds
• County Clerk
• Trustee (tax collection)
• Criminal Court Clerk and Circuit Court Clerk

Departments, boards and commissions

Departments and semi-independent boards under the Executive Branch, funded and governed by the Metro Council, include the Metro Police Department, the Planning Department and Planning Commission, the school system (Metro Nashville Public Schools), the Health Department, Public Works, Parks and others. Independent boards and commissions, often appointed by the Mayor or Council, include the Planning Commission, Zoning Appeals Board, Beer Board, Hospital Authority and Airport Authority.

Smaller municipalities within Davidson County

• Belle Meade
• Forest Hills
• Berry Hill
• Oak Hill
• Goodlettsville

Offices voted on by Davidson County residents

• District Council Member (represents your specific district)
• At-Large Council Members (represent the entire county)
• Mayor of Nashville
• Vice Mayor of Nashville
• Sheriff
• Assessor of Property
• Trustee (tax collector)
• Register of Deeds
• County Clerk
• General Sessions Judges
• Criminal Court Judges
• Circuit Court Judges
• Chancery Court Judges
• School Board

Getting started

Elected office profiles

The Metro Council is the legislative body of Nashville-Davidson County’s consolidated city-county government. It passes ordinances, resolutions, zoning changes, the annual budget, tax levies, and confirms mayoral appointments. The Council is the most common and accessible entry point for candidates into local politics. Structure: 40 total members, 35 district seats elected by voters in single-member geographic districts and 5 at-large seats elected countywide.

Find your Metro Council or School Board district with Metro’s district lookup (opens in a new tab). Register of Deeds, County Clerk and the court clerks are known as “General Officers” under Tennessee law.

Getting started

Time and salary by office

Getting started

Terms and election cycles

¹ The regular judicial cycle; vacancies can create intervening unexpired-term elections. ² The Assessor follows the gubernatorial-election cycle rather than the 2026 county-office cycle.

Running

Filing and candidate links

Getting involved

Davidson County Republican Party structure

The Davidson County Republican Party (often branded as the Nashville GOP) is organized similarly to most Tennessee county Republican parties, with authority flowing from the Tennessee Republican Party’s county-party rules and local bylaws.

Organizational overview

1. County Executive Committee (CEC)

The governing body of the Davidson County Republican Party. The CEC sets party policy and strategy, oversees candidate recruitment and support, conducts party business between membership meetings, organizes fundraising and voter-contact efforts, manages county party finances, and coordinates with the Tennessee Republican Party.

2. Officers

Day-to-day operations are handled by elected officers: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Vice Treasurer, Secretary / Recording Secretary, Regional Vice Chairs, and other officers authorized by the bylaws.

3. Regional Vice Chairs

Davidson County is divided into geographic regions for organizing purposes. Regional Vice Chairs recruit volunteers, coordinate precinct-level activity, assist with voter turnout, help develop future candidates, and serve as liaisons between neighborhoods and party leadership.

4. Precinct organization

At the grassroots level are precinct leaders and volunteers. Their responsibilities include door knocking, voter registration, election-day turnout operations, poll watching, and recruiting local activists.

5. State Executive Committee members

Davidson County elects members to the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee (SEC). These members represent Davidson County’s legislative districts at the state level, vote on state party rules and bylaws, participate in state party leadership decisions, and serve as a bridge between local and state party organizations.

6. Committees and auxiliary organizations

Active committees include Candidate Recruitment, Fundraising, Communications, Election Integrity, Events, and Volunteer Development. The Davidson County GOP also works alongside allied organizations: Nashville Young Republicans, Tennessee Young Republicans, Republican women’s clubs, and Republican elected officials’ organizations.

Getting involved

Super Volunteer resource guide

Recommended volunteer starter pack

1. Join the GOP Nashville email list
2. Attend a Davidson County Republican Party meeting
3. Sign up as a volunteer through GOP Nashville
4. Participate in a voter-contact activity (door knocking or phone banking)
5. Join Nashville Republican Women or Tennessee Young Republicans (if applicable)
6. Volunteer for Election Day operations
7. Become active in your precinct
8. Pursue a Precinct Captain or party leadership role

Key organizations and links

Running

Voter outreach methods and strategy

For political campaigns, voter outreach methods differ in persuasion power, turnout power, cost, scalability, and ability to collect data. The most effective campaigns use multiple channels because each serves a different purpose.

Relative effectiveness ranking, local races

Outreach method descriptions

Recommended outreach mix by campaign size

Core campaign sequence

The most successful local campaigns generally follow this sequence:

1. Identify voters: petitions, events, social media, canvassing
2. Persuade voters: doors, phones, mail, digital ads
3. Collect data: doors, phones, petitions
4. Mobilize supporters: texts, calls, GOTV mail, relational organizing
5. Turn them out: door knocks, texts, calls, rides to polls

Policy

Metro policy points

As you begin to get more heavily involved in affecting our local political landscape, you will be immersed in policy. While many turn their eyes and minds to state and national policy, some of the policy that affects us most is local policy. Here is a quick introduction to the 2026 landscape of policy issues and the key local political players that influence whether that policy gets put into practice.

Nashville Metro Government snapshot: the biggest political battles brewing

Despite the Growth Coalition’s dominance of certain policy points, several major conflicts are emerging. These battles will shape Nashville politics over the next decade.

Metro Government vs. Tennessee state government

A major structural conflict between the state’s priorities and the county’s agenda. The Republican-controlled state legislature has repeatedly intervened in Nashville’s governance. The broader conflict includes disputes over tax authority, stadium financing, transportation funding, and public school budgets.

Development vs. affordable housing

This is becoming the central political divide in Nashville. Rapid growth has dramatically increased housing prices. Advocacy groups such as Stand Up Nashville and various neighborhood associations argue that development incentives have benefited investors while leaving working residents behind. Major debates have focused on density metrics, “inclusive” zoning, major corporate land grabs, workforce housing needs, and tax incentives for developers.

Transportation infrastructure

Traffic congestion is one of the city’s biggest challenges. The Mayor’s initiatives aim to expand transit, sidewalks, and bus systems. Questions revolve around how to fund transit, sales tax increases, bus versus rail priorities, and suburban commuter access.

East Bank redevelopment

The massive redevelopment around the Cumberland River near the Titans stadium is one of the largest urban planning projects in Tennessee history. Political fights involving land use, public subsidies, infrastructure costs, and affordable housing needs erupt in the halls of local government frequently.

Growth vs. neighborhood preservation

Rapid redevelopment in historic neighborhoods has triggered much conflict. Neighborhood groups are increasingly organized and politically active. Key flash-points include rezoning battles, demolition of historic properties, short-term rental regulations, and historic preservation regulations.

The core political divide in the Metro Council (two axes)

Nashville’s Council politics is dominated by land use. Housing density debates have become the central political dividing line, while zoning and planning decisions divide the Council most sharply. Axis A is the housing vs. development battle, with a majority supporting an urbanist, pro-growth outlook and the opposition siding with a neighborhood-protection, slow-growth framework. Axis B is the governance and fiscal divide: progressive spending dominates while fiscal conservatives and big-government skeptics take a back seat, often becoming agenda skeptics rather than agenda setters.

Key Metro Council voting coalitions

The urbanist / pro-growth coalition

Roughly 12–16 reliable votes depending on the issue, felt mainly in planning and transit measures. These members generally support major rezoning, like the Nations plan, aimed at increasing density and walkability, and usually form the majority base for land-use legislation. Key issues: zoning reform (duplexes, triplexes, NEST planning), transit expansion, East Bank redevelopment, urban density around job centers, and residential housing density. Zoning reform proposals to allow duplexes and more housing types are led by council members such as Quin Evans Segall and Rollin Horton.

The neighborhood protection / slow-growth coalition

Roughly 8–12 votes depending on zoning cases, with veto power on zoning issues: this group can block rezoning attempts, especially when district council members control local land-use decisions, and usually forms the core opposition on development bills. Key issues: opposition to density in single-family neighborhoods, development impact concerns, historic preservation and neighborhood planning, zoning limits, and overdevelopment. Rezoning efforts such as the Nations development plan sparked strong neighborhood backlash. Council members Jeff Eslick and Joy Kimbrough spoke against housing-density legislation in council debate.

The progressive governance coalition

Roughly 8–12 reliable votes, with heavy influence on budget and social policy. This coalition overlaps heavily with the urbanists but emphasizes an equity framing rather than a growth framing. Key issues: affordable housing programs, social services funding, public transit, and labor protections.

The fiscal conservative / government skeptic bloc

Roughly 6–8 reliable votes, focused on budget and spending. Not a hard ideological bloc, but often aligned on budget oversight: budget discipline, infrastructure spending, transparency, and skepticism toward large projects. Council member Courtney Johnston has consistently pushed transparency measures around city utilities and contracts.

The leadership coalition

These members wield procedural and committee power rather than ideological cohesion, and often determine what legislation advances regardless of ideology. Key institutional members: Kyonzte Toombs (budget and finance), Delishia Porterfield (senior leadership), Quin Evans Segall (infrastructure and development), Clay Capp (charter and planning), Rollin Horton (zoning authority).

The swing bloc

Even though the Council has 40 members, the effective decision-making group in close votes is usually 15–20 members. Most legislation passes with comfortable margins because the body leans left. High-stakes votes have included budget amendments, major rezoning, policing funding, tax changes, stadium financing, and transit policy. A small swing coalition of about 10 members often determines the outcomes: members who sit between the progressive bloc (about 22 members) and the small conservative minority (3–4 members), vote case by case, negotiate amendments, and often determine whether a vote ends 23–17 (passes) or 19–21 (fails). They tend to evaluate legislation on neighborhood impact, fiscal cost, developer involvement, and pressure from the Mayor’s office.

Where the swing coalition matters most

• Rezoning and development: major housing or mixed-use rezonings frequently pass 22–18 or 23–17. Key swing voters: Rollin Horton, Mike Cortese, Clay Capp.
• Budget amendments: the Mayor submits the budget, but the Council tweaks it. The central negotiator is Kyonzte Toombs, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.
• Policing and public safety: votes on police funding or policy reforms split the Council. Key moderator: Jordan Huffman.
• Transit spending: transit expansion is popular but expensive. Swing vote: Thom Druffel.

If you have more questions about the policy points above or want to try developing a few policy points of your own for your own candidacy, contact Spencer Anastasio at spencer.anastasio@gopnashville.org.

Policy

Saving Nashville’s music

One of the most essential communities in Davidson County is our musician community. Nashville is Music City. Nashville’s music culture is what inspires individuals from around the world to visit, men and women from across the country to move to pursue their dreams, and residents to enjoy an incredible artistic and musical culture distinctly its own. When we think of policy, it is important to think of how we can protect Nashville’s historical musical heritage. These policy points, incorporated by request of the Music Venue Alliance Nashville, are ideas for emerging candidates to consider adopting in their platform as they run their race.

Saving Nashville’s music and music history

Preserve Music City

• Create a Cultural Land Trust to preserve historic music venues, rehearsal spaces, recording studios, and creative properties threatened by redevelopment.
• Ensure East Bank development includes below-market-rate opportunities for locally owned independent music venues, creative businesses, and cultural organizations.

Support the creative workforce

• Financially support the Tennessee Live Music Fund to protect and grow Nashville’s network of independent venues, recognizing their role as the farm system for artists, songwriters, and the broader music economy.
• Invest 1% of the Metro budget in community via music, arts, and entertainment.
• Address musician and venue parking concerns through Metro’s street parking and transportation programs.
• Expand affordable workforce housing solutions that serve musicians, artists, venue workers, and creative entrepreneurs.

Create a seat at the table

• Invest in the continued growth of the Office of Entertainment, or establish an official advisor dedicated to representing the needs of Nashville’s creative community within Metro government.
• Hire local talent to perform at the start of every Metro Council meeting.

Invest in music as economic development

• Create new economic development incentives that benefit Nashville’s creative community, independent venues, music businesses, and live entertainment sector.
• Incorporate music and culture into neighborhood planning, tourism strategy, and economic development initiatives.
• Recognize music as critical infrastructure that drives jobs, tourism, small business growth, and quality of life.

Getting involved

Candidate and volunteer punch card

Sixteen punches. Candidates and super volunteers who complete this card will be invited to a special dinner and ceremony at the end of the year and will be up for consideration for special candidate and super volunteer development support from GOP Nashville.

Help

Contact

If you have any questions, concerns, or if you think of any helpful additions to this Quick Book, please contact the founder of Citizen Activate, Elle Johnson, at go@citizenactivate.com.

Davidson County · Citizen Activate 2026 · Candidate resource. Figures are approximate and subject to change; check Metro Nashville and Davidson County official sites for current numbers.