NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Megan Barry’s election as Nashville’s first female mayor dashed Republican hopes of making inroads in one of the few remaining Democratic strongholds in Tennessee.
Barry, a metro councilwoman, ended up cruising to a 10-percentage point victory Thursday over hedge fund manager David Fox, who had had embraced conservative voters while trying to paint his opponent as too focused on social issues. Fox also ran radio ads labeling Barry and husband, Bruce, as anti-Christian, and sought to blame her for past property tax increases and the city’s worsening traffic.
“I don’t have any regrets,” Fox said in his concession speech. “We left it all on the field and ran a very aggressive campaign.”
Barry, who officiated the city’s first gay marriage following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Tennessee’s ban, never shied from her “strong progressive” positions in a city that last year voted 2-to-1 against giving state lawmakers more power to regulate abortion, twice overwhelmingly voted for President Barack Obama and in 2009 soundly rejected requiring all government business be done in English.
In the closing days of the race, Barry heavily courted African-American voters to help seal her victory.