Lawsuit: Nashville mayoral election must be in May, not August

A former longtime Metro councilman and current head of the Nashville chapter of the NAACP — who now says he's running for mayor — sued the Davidson County Election Commission on Monday, seeking to force the city to hold Nashville's next mayoral election in May instead of August.

The lawsuit, filed by Ludye Wallace in Davidson County Chancery Court, comes after the election commission voted 3-2 Friday to add a new mayoral election to the city's Aug. 2 ballot following last week's resignation of former Mayor Megan Barry.

Multiple legal observers, including an attorney for the plaintiff, have argued Barry's exit should have triggered an earlier special election.

"The petitioner has filed this action to remedy that clear legal error," the lawsuit reads.

The suit, which had been anticipated, argues the commission's vote violated the Metro Charter and state law and is therefore invalid. It seeks a mayoral election on either May 1, when the city's local primary election is scheduled, or between May 21 and May 25. The latter would fall between the required 75 and 80 days after an officeholder's exit to hold a special election.

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Wallace, a North Nashville-area councilman from 1975 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2007, is represented by Nashville attorney Jamie Hollin, who argued for a May special election on behalf of Wallace at Friday's election commission meeting.

Lawsuit says longer campaign is a 'specific injury' to Wallace

A court hearing for the case is set for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. before Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman.

The lawsuit refers to Wallace — who has not held office in a decade — as a candidate for mayor who has experienced a "concrete and particularized injury" because of the August election date. Wallace picked up qualifying paperwork Friday to run for mayor and turned it in Monday.

To make the case for injury, the suit points to the nearly $17 million in campaign dollars spent during the 2015 Nashville mayoral race, arguing that Wallace lacks the money to run a campaign for the additional months if the election is in August.

"This extension of time is a specific injury to the petitioner and is not common to

the general public," the lawsuit reads. "The additional expense and illegal extension of time are a special injury to the petitioner’s campaign for the office of mayor."

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Metro Law Director Jon Cooper said the legal department is prepared to litigate this matter in an "expedited manner" and will be filing a response with the court that will provide the legal justification for the election commission's decision.

Establishing that the plaintiff has standing to sue — an argument aided by the fact Wallace is listed a mayoral candidate — is key after Davidson County Circuit Court Judge Amanda McClendon in 2016 threw out a similar lawsuit seeking an expedited special election following the resignation of former Councilman Loniel Greene. Hollin was also the attorney in that case.

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David Briley, the city's former vice mayor, was sworn in as mayor last week to replace Barry.

Briley announced his candidacy for the August election last week, and several others are considered possible contenders — including Nashville businessman Bill Freeman, businessman David Fox, state Rep. Harold Love Jr., At-large Councilman John Cooper and At-large Councilwoman Erica Gilmore, who has filed paperwork to appoint a campaign treasurer. Hollin worked for Freeman's 2015 mayoral campaign.

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Wallace, a regular presence in city hall despite the long lapse from when he last served on the council, has not garnered the same speculation as a mayoral contender.

Candidates have until April 5 to qualify to run for mayor. Even though Wallace has filed paperwork to run, he can still remove his name before the deadline if he chooses.

"I'm going to qualify," Wallace said when asked about his candidacy. "That's the first thing you have to do. From that point on, there's so many other things involved, I have to see if I can get everything in order."

He rejected any suggestion that there were other motives behind his candidacy and the lawsuit.

"All I'm trying to help is Luyde Wallace and these good citizens of Nashville, Tenn.," he said, adding that he hopes the lawsuit will bring clarity on when the election should be held. "We will know for the future when there's a vacancy."

Suit argues special election should be held

In recommending an August date, city attorneys pointed to a part of the Metro Charter that says that an election to replace a mayor must take place during the next general metropolitan election unless it is more than 12 months away.

The city contends that the August election — which doesn't typically have mayoral races, but does have Metro school board races, as well as elections for offices such as register of deeds, sheriff and trustee, along with state party primaries — constitutes a Metro general election. Thus, they've argued for the Aug. 2 date.

The Tennessee Division of Elections has agreed with the city's decision.

But Wallace and Hollin, in the lawsuit, argue that a special election should have been triggered after Barry's departure from office. They argue the upcoming August election is not a metropolitan general election because it does not fall under the same four-year pattern for electing mayors.

By state law, a special election must occur between 75 and 80 days of an officeholder's exit, a scenario that would set up an election between May 21 and May 25. That would occur three weeks after Nashville's May 1 election, which is typically considered a county primary election, but this year has a countywide vote on a referendum on funding a $5.4 billion transit plan.

The lawsuit highlights a part in the Metro Charter that says "for the purpose of election of a mayor" there shall be "a general metropolitan election" every four years after the first Thursday in August 1971. The next such election is not until August 2019, meaning a special election would have to take place because it is more than 12 months away.

Lawsuit: Outcome of election commission was established before meeting

The suit further singles out a Metro Charter amendment, approved by Davidson County voters in 2007, that says a special election is required to fill a vacancy in the office of mayor or council whenever more than 12 months are left in an unexpired term. Barry's old term has more than 18 months remaining.

The suit goes on to allege that the outcome of the election commission's meeting Friday was made even before it commenced. As a result, plaintiffs say the board's action was "arbitrary, capricious and illegal."

As evidence, the lawsuit points to the commission's meeting agenda, which stated that the purpose of the meeting was to "add office of Mayor to August 2, 2018 Election Ballot.”

Plaintiffs also note in the lawsuit that Wallace's qualifying petition, which he picked up Friday morning, already listed an Aug. 2 election date even though the election commission had not met yet.

Hollin declined to comment further.

"Out of respect for the court and the applicable process, all we have to say at this time is contained in the documents we filed this morning in the office of the chancery court clerk," Hollin said.

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236, jgarrison@tennessean.com and on Twittet @joeygarrison.