Jim Shulman elected Nashville vice mayor in lopsided runoff election

Jim Shulman, an at-large councilman aligned with Democratic politics in Nashville, was elected Metro's ninth vice mayor Thursday, defeating Bellevue-area Councilwoman Sheri Weiner by a wide margin in a head-to-head runoff election.

Shulman, a former district councilman from Green Hills who's held a countywide at-large seat for three years, received 19,585 votes, nearly twice the 10,361 won by Weiner. It's a margin of 65 percent to 35 percent, with numbers still unofficial. 

Weiner conceded the election to Shulman by phone shortly after an initial wave of early voting results showed Shulman up big. 

Shulman will finish the final year of the term left by Mayor David Briley, the city's former vice mayor. Briley won a special election in May to succeed former Mayor Megan Barry after she resigned amid a sex scandal with her former police bodyguard. Briley's special election victory triggered the race to replace him.

'We just kept going,' Shulman says of runoff win

It was Weiner who topped Shulman during the race's first round, the Aug. 2 general election, by a margin of 45 percent to 42 percent. But a runoff was required because neither finished with half of the vote. A third candidate, Matt DelRossi, a local musician. took in 13 percent of the vote last month. 

Shulman, in a phone interview, said Weiner remains a friend after the race "and we go forward."

"We just kept going all over the city," Shulman said of his victory, attributing the margin to targeting voters who voted for him during the first round and "reminding them of why we were running" in the first place. "We went to as many events as possible, and we tried to get our message out. It worked. 

"We remained positive throughout the campaign, and I thought we ran a really effective campaign by reaching out to those folks that I think understood the message and were willing to go vote." 

Interactive map: How Jim Shulman won

Weiner gracious in defeat: 'Let's get back to work'

Weiner, in her second term representing the council's District 22, congratulated Shulman on his victory in a statement on Facebook. She said she looks forward to supporting Shulman as he leads the council through the coming year. 

"I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to my family, friends, colleagues, and each person who supported me, whether by making phone calls, sending postcards, urging their friends to vote, or offering a kind word over a challenging campaign. The difficulty of being misrepresented has been offset in many ways by the incredible support of true friends."

She added that "with another election behind us, we now have stable leadership in Metro for the coming year " to focus on the city's priorities. "Let’s get back to work."

Shulman benefited from low turnout runoff

The vice mayor presides over the council and is tasked with assigning members to committees. 

Weiner, as the council's former president pro tempore, had served as acting vice mayor for the majority of Briley's absence. Councilwoman Burkley Allen was appointed by the council to that role after Weiner's one-year term expired last month. 

More:Nashville vice mayor runoff election could cost taxpayers as much as $750,000

Her first-place finish in the special vice mayoral election last month came during a high turnout race, with more than 92,500 people voting because of high-profile statewide gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races also on the ballot. 

More:Where they stand: 5 questions for Nashville's two vice mayor candidates ahead of Thursday's runoff

Shulman was able to use his strong ties to a Democratic base — and partisan get-out-the-vote efforts — to his advantage in the stand-alone runoff, which appears will only have around 30,000 voters.

The Davidson County Election Commission will have final unofficial numbers Friday morning.

Budget review begins now, Shulman says

Briley, a former council colleague of Shulman, congratulated the new vice mayor-elect.

"My hearty congratulations to newly elected Vice Mayor Jim Shulman," Briley said. "I look forward to continuing to work with you in your new role for the betterment of the city."

Both candidates campaigned on a message of working toward compromise in the 40-member council following a period of unrest in Metro that has seen turnover in both the vice mayor and mayor positions following the March resignation of Barry. 

Shulman has said he wants to help the council identify what it wants to achieve over the next year on issues like affordable housing, school safety and transportation and outline "action steps" to get there.

He said he intends to appoint small committees to address these issues as well as the budget, which faced an unexpected revenue shortfall this past year. 

"Our budget review for next year starts right now," Shulman said. "We can't wait until April or May."

Election date to fill open at-large seat unclear

The 58-year-old Shulman, who served two terms as a district councilman representing parts of Green Hills from 1999 to 2007, was elected to his first term as a countywide at-large member in 2015. 

A onetime chief of staff for former Tennessee House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, Shulman was a deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health under former Gov. Phil Bredesen. He currently works as executive director for the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability.

Weiner, considered a political moderate, was forced to overcome some partisanship in the race with Shulman enjoying the backing of the Davidson County Democratic Party. 

Shulman amassed a slight a fundraising advantage during the five-week runoff, raising $47,836 between July 24 and Aug. 27, compared to $42,895 for Weiner.

It's still unclear when the race to replace Shulman on the council will take place.

Metro Law Director Jon Cooper said the initial interpretation of the law department is that the at-large seat should remain unfilled until the next at-large election in August 2019.

But he said the department is reviewing the matter further before formally advising the election commission.

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