Nashville Voted on Four School Board Seats Thursday. By Then, Each Ballot Had One Named Candidate.

Two incumbents were unopposed throughout the cycle. Two others survived contested Democratic primaries in May. By the August general election, none faced a named opponent.

Two incumbents were unopposed throughout the cycle. Two others survived contested Democratic primaries in May. By the August general election, none faced a named opponent.

By The Redemption Project Newsroom
Elections Desk

Nashville voters formally elected four school-board members Thursday.

But by the time the county general-election ballot arrived, voters in Districts 2, 4, 6 and 8 each saw the same basic choice: one named candidate and a write-in line.

The four named candidates were Democratic incumbents Rachael Anne Elrod, Berthena Nabaa-McKinney, Cheryl Mayes and Erin O’Hara Block. No Republican or independent candidate appeared against them on the Aug. 6 ballot.

That makes these elections useful for understanding something larger than who won.

Election Day and decision day are not always the same thing.

---

In two districts, the competitive election happened in May

Districts 4 and 6 did give voters a choice among named candidates.

They just did it three months earlier.

In District 4, Nabaa-McKinney defeated Jennifer Bell in the May 5 Democratic primary, receiving 3,165 votes to Bell’s 1,678. In District 6, Mayes received 2,323 votes, defeating former board member Fran Bush with 1,343 and Mary Bernice Polk with 485. Those results were later certified by the Davidson County Election Commission.

The Republican side looked very different. Election Commission results show that no Republican candidate qualified for school-board Districts 2, 4, 6 or 8; the Republican primary ballots offered only write-in opportunities.

By August, the competitive choices from Districts 4 and 6 were gone.

Nabaa-McKinney and Mayes remained on the general-election ballot as the only named candidates for their seats.

For voters who waited until the election labeled “general” to begin comparing candidates, the meaningful contest had already happened.

---

In two districts, there was never a named challenger

Districts 2 and 8 reveal something different.

Elrod was unopposed in the Democratic primary and received 2,845 votes. O’Hara Block was also unopposed and received 4,684. Neither faced a named Republican primary candidate, and neither had a named opponent waiting in the August general election.

That means those districts did not simply have an early decisive election.