NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The polls have closed, the votes have been counted, but it's not over yet.
The race for Music City's next Mayor was set to continue with a runoff election September 10, and both Megan Barry and David Fox made it into that race after winning the top two spots Thursday.
The latest numbers showed Barry with 24 percent of the vote and Fox not far behind with 22 percent.
Barry made history as she became the first woman in Nashville to make it into the mayoral runoff election. She said her next move was to drum up support from those who did not vote for her in this election.
Victory speech about to be given by @MeganBarry2015@NC5#MetroElectionpic.twitter.com/IVJSPRwqnO
— Chris Conte (@NC5_ChrisConte) August 7, 2015
“I kept the faith that Nashville voters would see past all of those endless TV ads and all of those campaign gimmicks, and they would vote for the candidate who shared their values, who shares my values, who shares our values for Nashville,” Barry said to a crowd of supporters Thursday night.
Fox gave an enthusiastic speech thanking his supporters. He admitted the runoff election contained two very different candidates, and added Nashville would have a good choice.
HAPPENING NOW: @DavidFox2015 just ended his speech to supporters. Asked for their vote in Sept. pic.twitter.com/Ekz77IBbHp
— Emily Luxen (@NC5_EmilyLuxen) August 7, 2015
“We’ve met so many people at their doorsteps, and we’ve learned so much, but everything gets compacted down to about four and a half weeks,” Fox said. “We’ll be making our TV ads very soon, but I’ll be out knocking doors every day, and I’ll have my cellphone, hopefully people will still be calling me on my cellphone every day.”
Early voting for the runoff election has been scheduled for August 21 through September 5. The last day for voter registration has been set for Tuesday, August 11.
Mayor Karl Dean released the following statement following Thursday night's results:
“I want to congratulate Megan Barry and David Fox and wish them luck as they now turn their attention to the mayoral runoff election. Bill Freeman, Howard Gentry, Charles Robert Bone, Linda Eskind Rebrovick and Jeremy Kane also deserve the city’s thanks for their interest in public service and the ideas they shared during the campaign that led up to yesterday’s vote. I look forward to following the runoff campaign and congratulating the next mayor on Sept. 10.”
