The Tennessee Supreme Court may be the next court involved in the legal battle surrounding the date of the upcoming mayoral election to replace former mayor Megan Barry.
An attorney representing Ludye Wallace -- a qualified candidate for Mayor who is also the head of the Nashville chapter of the NAACP -- filed an appeal directly to the Tennessee Supreme Courton Thursday, asking for an emergency review of Wednesday's chancery court decision.
On Wednesday, Davidson County Chancery Court Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman ruled that the mayoral election should take place on August 2, siding with a decision made by the Davidson County Election Commission on Friday.
Wallace's attorney Jamie Hollin filed the appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court. He has argued that both the Metro Charter and Tennessee codes say the election needs to be held in May, based on the definition of the words "general Metropolitan election" in the Metro Charter.
Chancellor Bonnyman agreed with a broader definition of that term argued by Metro's legal department on Wednesday, following an interpretation that would keep the election set on August 2.
The Tennessee Supreme Court must now decide whether they will hear the case. In his filings, Hollin has asked that the legal procedures be put on the fast track: if a higher court decides that the mayoral election should be held on May 1, the candidate filing deadline would be only a week from Thursday.
Wednesday's chancery court hearing was held just two days after the original lawsuit was filed, but it was unclear Thursday whether the Tennessee Supreme Court would afford Hollin the same expediency.
