Lonnie Spivak, chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party, said the Metro Nashville-Davidson County City Council should begin to discuss what its makeup would look like if a Tennessee law currently being challenged in the Tennessee Court of Appeals is allowed to take effect.
Last year, Governor Bill Lee signed SB87/HB48 into law, which requires that the governing body of a municipality or Metropolitan government “dissolve, combine, or reapportion districts or wards, as necessary, so that the number of members elected to the governing body does not exceed 20 voting members.”
The law would require that the 40-member Metro Nashville Council make the necessary changes to cap the number of elected officials to 20.
While the law was recently struck down by the Davidson County Chancery Court, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti appealed the ruling to the court of appeals, as previously reported by The Tennessee Star.
If the court of appeals reverses the chancery court’s decision, the plaintiffs—the Metro Nashville Government—may appeal the ruling to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Spivak, noting the timeliness of the case given that Metro elections will be held in 2026, said he believes the court of appeals and state Supreme Court would expedite the case.
“[The courts] would have to expedite some of that because you’ll have to do redistricting and all that would have to be approved by the Metro Council. They have certain timelines that they have to meet as far as zoning and that kind of stuff,” Spivak explained on Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
Spivak responded that he “hopes” the council is “laying the groundwork” to figure out what its new makeup would look like under the state law cap of 20 members.
“I hope they’re laying that groundwork because there’s a 50-50 chance right now that they’re going to lose,” Spivak said.
“We have two years until the next Metro election. So I think by early next year, we’d have to know which way this is going to go. The Metro Council, if they lose their appeal, would have to start drawing up districts and agree on what number that’s going to be because all of that has to be done and in place with enough time for the candidates to file and ballots to get out,” Spivak added.
Spivak said whichever way the Metro Council decides to go with its new makeup in terms of new districts if obligated by state law, the council would still be heavily controlled by Democrats.
“If the attorney general ends up winning on this, the makeup of the Metro Council will depend on whatever makes the most sense for the Democrats to win the most seats. That’s how it’ll end up. That’s what it is. They may decide to do 20 districts, but draw them in a way that conservatives may win one seat,” Spivak admitted.
“If you win elections, it has consequences. That’s the same with the state and their redistricting and the federal government with their redistricting. If you’re in the majority, you have the ability to draw those lines,” Spivak added.
Aside from the Metro Council makeup, Spivak discussed the importance of the case challenging the state law, explaining that if the Metro Government succeeds in its challenge, that will set a “precedent” in litigation moving forward separating Nashville from the state.
“If the attorney general loses this case to Metro Nashville, then I think it will severely limit the actions they will be able to take in the state going forward. It will limit the legislature’s ability to govern the cities because if they lose this, then they can always just run to that chancery court and say they’re violating this portion of the Constitution and there will be a precedent for it,” Spivak warned.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
