AP News, September 12th, 2007
Political newcomer Karl Dean was elected mayor over former Congressman Bob Clement in Nashville's runoff election.
According to unofficial returns, Dean had 51,491 votes to 47,388 for Clement with 100 percent of the vote counted in the nonpartisan election. Clement conceded the race 70 minutes after the polls closed Tuesday.
The new mayor succeeds Bill Purcell, who did not seek re-election after serving two four-year terms.
Dean, 51, resigned as Purcell's law director to run.
Clement, 63, the son of former Gov. Frank Clement, served eight terms in Congress beginning in 1988. He also is a former Tennessee Valley Authority board member, a former member of the old Public Service Commission and ex-president of Cumberland University in Lebanon. He has run unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and governor.
Dean, in his victory speech, listed cutting the school dropout rate and improving public safety as two of his priorities.
"I'm looking forward to getting down to work on the things this city needs," he said. "I also want to bring people together."
Key issues in the race included improving schools, fighting juvenile crime and spurring downtown and riverfront development.
The runoff election was required because no one received 50 percent of the vote in the five-candidate general election Aug. 2.
The date of the runoff was changed by the General Assembly, which passed legislation that advanced the original runoff by two days so it wouldn't fall on Rosh Hashana, a holiday when observant Jews are prohibited from doing any work, including voting.
The new mayor takes office Sept. 21.
