NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The second and third place finishers in the race for Nashville’s next mayor were closer in earned votes than the second and first place finishers.

Carol Swain got 22,128 votes, or 22%, while Mayor David Briley got 25,573 votes, 25%. Councilman John Cooper won by 9,813 votes, or 35%. Still, not the 50% plus one vote needed to win, forcing a runoff.

After the election, Councilman Cooper said while there was no definitive winner, there was a clear message to Mayor Briley.

“I feel good about it. I think really if you look at the election, it’s more than 70% saying, ‘We want change,’” said Councilman Cooper.

“It was really a gigantic outcome. Up until a few weeks ago, the mayor’s team was saying there would not be a runoff, right? Just inconceivable that there would be runoff.”

The run-off election will be September 12 with early voting beginning August 23.

Both candidates will leave the strategizing to the political experts, they say, but will honor the basics moving forward: knocking on doors, talking to voters, meeting people and sharing their plans.

“Our strategy in politics all the time… meet people, listen to people and come up with the right ideas to go forward,” said Councilman Cooper

“I’ll just go out and talk to folks about the city I love, and where I think the city should go. I’ll leave it to consultants to identify different strategies,” said Mayor Briley.

As the race narrows from ten to two candidates, attention focuses on the candidates’ plans and proposals. Mayor Briley says he will use the next six weeks to clear up inaccuracies shared during the general election campaign.

“Well I think in a runoff… there’s an opportunity to contrast one vision versus another, a lot of things that have been said in the last few months that are just factually not accurate will be cleared up. So I think that’ll be an opportunity for us,” said Mayor Briley.

Meanwhile, Councilman Cooper says he will use this time to distance his plans from Briley’s to keep Nashville as the “It City,” and prevent it from becoming the “Was City.”

“The city has a lot to get done. We have a lot of needs and education in priority schools and transportation and affordable housing. We have a lot to get done and now we need to go ahead and get on with it,” said Councilman Cooper.

READ: 2019 General Election results

In addition to the mayoral race, there will be a runoff for a handful of council seats, including the at-large seats.