Odessa Kelly Challenges Rep. Jim Cooper For U.S. Congress Seat

By Nate Rau, Tennessee Lookout

April 20, 2021

Before Odessa Kelly ever entered the race for Congress to challenge incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, Nashville politics had been in the midst of a transformation.

Over the previous decade, more black politicians won notable countywide elections for desirable posts that had long been occupied by mostly older, white men.

Since 2012, 13 African-American candidates have won judicial, clerk or constitutional officer positions, including five instances of challengers unseating incumbents. In 10 of those races, the victor replaced a white man.

The success of black candidates winning big elections in Davidson County represents a sea change in Nashville politics that insiders say began when Howard Gentry came within a hair of reaching the mayoral runoff in 2007.

It’s against that backdrop that Kelly, a 39-year-old executive director of the advocacy group Stand Up Nashville, challenges Cooper, who has represented Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district since 2003.

The question is whether the success of black candidates in mostly low turnout Democratic primary elections for General Sessions judge or a county clerk job can translate to the high-cost, high stakes Congressional primary in 2022. Despite the success of political standard bearers like Gentry and Davidson County Trustee Erica Gilmore, the latter of whom won three Metro Council elections including an at-large race in 2015, Nashville has never had an African American mayor or congressional representative. Cooper’s brother, John Cooper was elected mayor in 2019.

Asked whether the trend of Black candidates winning countywide races in the last decade has any implications for her race, Kelly paused and said she needed a moment to think about it.

“First of all, I think it is because they had the audacity to run,” Kelly said. “Oppression is something that is internalized. I will say this – a lot of the voting that’s happened in the African American community, not just in Nashville but across the country, has been to mitigate harm. You know, you vote in a way to make sure you can keep yourself protected, which is another reason why I wanted to run for this seat. Cooper has just been a safe vote. He’s never been a vote that has inspired people.”

Kelly told the Tennessee Lookout she believes the reliable Democratic primary voters who have re-elected Cooper the last 20 years “are the individuals who raised me. They’re the ones who instilled in me to get to this point and be a person who can represent them accurately.”

“When you’re speaking about those clerks and winning those positions, of course they’re well-qualified to hold those positions,” Kelly said. “I think it goes back to them doing the work to get the name visibility, the same way I did, I just took a different path. And, them having the work ethic to run and making sure people we trust are sitting in those seats.”

Deliberate political strategy improved diversity in Nashville’s elected officials

John Little said Gentry’s 2007 mayoral election, in which he came just 324 votes shy of reaching the runoff, was a light bulb moment for future Nashville candidates and campaign operatives. If Gentry could come within a hair of being elected mayor, then other candidates could mount legitimate campaigns for judge or the other top elected offices. After more than a decade working on campaigns and serving as an operative, Little won his own race for Nashville school board in 2020. He previously worked for or volunteered on behalf of five of the African American candidates who won elections since 2012. Gentry was appointed criminal court clerk in 2012 and subsequently won re-election to the job in 2018.

“The common denominator is they were all great candidates, who were willing to work and willing to campaign and develop a message and run the right way,” Little said.

Little is backing Kelly, who he has known since high school when they attended Stratford High together. He sees Kelly having advantages over previous Cooper challengers because she has distinct voting blocs she could possibly tap into. Kelly, who describes herself as gay, has the early backing of prominent LGBTQ leaders. She may also lay claim to the far left flank of the Democratic primary, the sort of voters who backed Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bids. And, Kelly will have the support of organized labor, which has made clear political headway in Nashville in recent years, culminating in the successful negotiation of a community benefits agreement as part of the financing of the new soccer stadium at the fairgrounds.

“What I like about Odessa is she’s a Nashville native, and she can make the case to progressives, to African-American voters, to the LGBT voters, to labor voters,” Little said.

The success of African-American candidates reflects a political climate in Nashville eager for change, according to attorney David Anthony. He was a finalist for an appointment to the Davidson County Chancery Court during Gov. Bill Haslam’s final weeks in office. The appointment ultimately went to Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal. But, Anthony, a successful bankruptcy and business law attorney who previously worked at Bone McAllester, is viewed as a possible candidate in the future. Anthony said he’s chosen not to run because he doesn’t think the timing is right for another white, male candidate.

“When the time came to run for election for that spot, it didn’t feel right, especially after the political and racial turmoil of 2020,” said Anthony, who is white. “We’ve had generations of white males in these types of positions, and we have a moral duty to promote new and diverse voices to leadership roles.”

Click here to read the full story.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit network of state government news sites supported by grants and a coalition of donors.