State Sen. Heidi Campbell, Vivian Wilhoite running for mayor

BY STEPHEN ELLIOTT

Two of Nashville’s three state senators are now running for mayor.

Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) announced Wednesday her campaign to succeed Mayor John Cooper. She joins a field that includes her Senate colleague Jeff Yarbro, who announced his own bid in February.

In 2020, Campbell beat incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Dickerson despite significant spending by Republicans in the Senate seeking to retain the last Nashville Republican in the legislature. (Sen. Mark Pody, a Wilson County Republican, represents part of Nashville after redistricting.) She ran for Congress in 2022 in the 5th Congressional District, formerly a Democratic stronghold redrawn to favor Republicans and won by Republican Andy Ogles.

Previously, Campbell was mayor of Oak Hill.

Campbell had nearly $70,000 in her state Senate campaign account as of Jan. 24, funds which can be transferred to a mayoral campaign. She closed her congressional campaign account earlier this year after disbursing remaining funds to charitable organizations and political allies. Campbell’s fundraising team from both the congressional campaign, which raised more than $1 million, and her Senate campaign is already working for Wiltshire’s mayoral campaign.

Also on Wednesday, Davidson County Property Assessor Vivian Wilhoite filed paperwork appointing a mayoral campaign treasurer.

Wilhoite said she would make a formal announcement in the coming weeks. Her treasurer is former judge and Metro Councilmember Nick Leonardo.

Wilhoite, a Tennessee State graduate, was elected in 2007 to the first of two terms on the Metro Council. In 2016, she was elected countywide as Davidson County property assessor.

Following Mayor John Cooper’s announcement earlier this year that he would not seek reelection, Wilhoite teased a potential run.

In addition to Campbell, Wilhoite, and Yarbro, the field now includes former Metro official Matt Wiltshire, Metro Councilmembers Freddie O’Connell and Sharon Hurt, former AllianceBernstein executive Jim Gingrich, Republican strategist Alice Rolli and former school board member Fran Bush.

The qualifying deadline for the race is in May.

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Post.