NASHVILLE — The seven candidates vying to become Nashville’s next mayor have spent a combined $12.5 million on their bids — the equivalent of $43 for every registered voter in Music City.
Voters go to the polls Thursday to choose among Councilwoman Megan Barry, attorney Charles Robert Bone, hedge fund manager David Fox, real estate mogul Bill Freeman, Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry, charter school founder Jeremy Kane and businesswoman Linda Eskind Rebrovick.
Four of the candidates have spent more than $1 million of their own money on the race to succeed term-limited Mayor Karl Dean, led by the $3.6 million Freeman has poured into his own campaign. Amid the flood of television advertisements, candidate forums, direct mail and yard signs, it’s unlikely that any of the hopefuls will reach the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff between the top two finishers on Sept. 10.
The election comes as the city seeks to sustain its momentum as a popular destination for tourists, relocating businesses and new residents, while trying to balance its growth with the efforts to preserve the character of the city that made it such an attraction in the first place.
The city’s population has grown by 16 percent since 2000 and shows little sign of slowing down. And Nashville’s growing traffic problems and transit needs are taking on a new priority amid the familiar refrain — heard in mayor’s races across the South — that nobody wants the city to become another Atlanta, where rapid growth has been accompanied by notorious gridlock.