Capitol Notes | Peggy Sue, the Beagle Hound

If you want to run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch.

Regular Election. The charter for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County establishes a regular election every four years for the offices of Mayor, Vice-Mayor, and the forty Council positions. August 3, 2023 was the regular election. The charter also requires a candidate to receive a majority of the votes cast or face a runoff six weeks later. The runoff election for this year is September 14. A wag of the tail in gratitude for all the candidates who got off the porch and summoned 25 humans who are registered voters to sign their nominating petitions to get their names on the ballot.

State Representative Bill Beck. Bill Beck, age 61, died unexpectedly on Sunday, June 4. District 51 in Davidson County that Bill represented covers a part of downtown, part of East Nashville, a part of Donelson, and Madison. Bill was first elected in 2015 when Mike Turner decided not to seek reelection. Bill was a Madison guy who loved the community he grew up in. He received his B. A. degree from Belmont University and his J.D. degree from the Nashville School of Law. He practiced law at his family law firm, Beck and Beck in

Madison with his mom. He was respected on both sides of the political aisle and was one of the few Democrats in the House that could still sponsor and pass a bill in body where Republicans hold a significant majority of the seats. Bill and his booming laugh will be missed.

Special Elections. left a vacancy, and the Metropolitan Coun cil has appointed Anthony Davis, a former Council Member from 2011-2019 to fill the seat until elections can be held. The Dem ocratic primary election to fill the slot was August 3 with Anthony Davis facing Aftyn Behn. The winner in the Democratic pri mary will face Republican David Hooven and Independent Annabelle Lee in the September 14 general election. The dis trict is staunchly Democratic. Former State Representative Timothy Hill of Washington County has prevailed in his special primary election contest as have Justin Jones of Davidson County and Justin Pearson in Shelby County. Each of these three prima ry winners was expected to prevail in the August 3 special general elections.

Pesky Deadlines. The timing required to get this august publication to print prevents us from barking about the Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly that

Governor Lee was expected to convene on August 21, 2023. Here’s to hoping our legislative friends had some success in their efforts to reform Tennessee’s laws regarding access to firearms in the aftermath of the Covenant School shooting.

PEGGY SUE is fond of the classic 1957 Buddy Holly song. When hunting legislation news or biscuits, she is hard to contact.