NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The two candidates running in the election to be Nashville's next mayor went before reporters Monday.
David Fox held a news conference late Monday morning on 2nd Avenue. He stood infront of a race car that carried his campaign's logo.
"Legendary driver Darrell Waltrip has come out to endorse the campaign," Fox told reporters.
The former race car driver came out to support Fox, and his desire to revitalize the Nashville Fairgrounds and Speedway, if elected.
"It's a vital part of our community, it's a part of our history. So I was really, really excited, and enthused, when David said we don't want to remove it, we don't to replace it, we want to repair it," Waltrip said.
While he does not live in Nashville, Waltrip said good management of Nashville is crucial for the entire region.
"I live in Williamson County, but it's important for all of us outlying communities to have a strong Nashville. This is the mothership," Waltrip explained.
Fox said he would involve the entire community in the planning process to revitalize the Fairgrounds, but stopped short of saying it would be a top budget priority if he becomes Mayor.
"What I'm saying is, lets have a plan. In life you don't say here's a dollar amount of money and lets go figure out how to spend it. You say, lets figure out our plan, the figure the dollar cost on it, and the funding sources," Fox said.
Fox had already picked up the endorsement of the people who run the Nashville Speedway.
Soon after Fox's news conference his opponent Megan Barry held a news conference of her own. She went on the offensive over a Fox campaign commerical currently running on Nashville's urban-format radio stations.
"I didn't think I'd be running against someone who would go so low as to attack my family in order to win," Barry told a crowd gathered at her North campaign office in Bordeaux.
Barry said the ad, that targets her, and her husband Bruce, and is not accurate.
"Lets be clear, he's lied about me, he's lied about my faith, he's lied about my family," Barry explained.
The ad claims that the Barry's are against the National Day of Prayer, prayer before sporting events, and other issues.
Bruce Barry is an outspoken political writer who the Fox campaign claims has a active role in this mayoral race. The Fox campaign stands behind the ad.
"I mean, frankly, I think it's a little bit of hypocrocy," said Chris Turner, the CEO of the Fox campaign. "If you look at the substance of the ad, it's all 100% accurate. As I recall there was a lot of sound, and fury at Ms. Barry's press conference, but she didn't go through and really refute the individual aspects of the ad.
He said Barry first made family a part of this campaign when she started to attack Fox's brother.
"She's been hammering George Fox, putting him in her ads. So to say family is being brought into this is, well, that's the pot calling the kettle black in the worst kind of way," Turner said. "
Barry picked up another, impromptu, endorsement Monday. Her former opponent Howard Gentry stopped by her news conference. He announced to Barry's supporters that he voted for her, and that he would support her during the final weeks of the campaign.
