Go Vote in the Franklin City Election TODAY (seriously)

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Williamson County neighbors: 

Molly Ivins, the late great Texas newspaper columnist, had a line that I think about often: “Most of us think of government as Them. Yet government isn’t Them: It’s us.”

That’s the beauty of democracy, isn’t it? We the people are the government. Perhaps nowhere is that truer than on the local level, where non-pro politicians serve the public while balancing children and full-time jobs and a bazillion other things. And, in many instances, these elected leaders make decisions that affect voters far more directly than many laws passed in Washington D.C. Which, in my view, is why voting in local elections is just as crucial as voting in the big national contests. 

That’s my long-winded way of bringing up the fact that early voting for Franklin’s Municipal City Election, for the Board of Mayor & Aldermen, has begun and will run through THIS Thursday, Oct. 23, followed by election day on Oct. 28. 

Please, for the love of all things pure and good, go vote! You can cast a ballot at the County Election Commission, at 405 Downs Boulevard. 

Now let’s talk about who’s running!

Franklin being what it is, there are some, uh, interesting characters in the race. The good news is that some normie candidates are also running. And the even further good news is that this humble community newsletter has enough subscribers to influence the outcome of the election, so please know that if you’re reading this, your vote really, really matters.

Here are the two big contests and which candidates deserve your vote. (Check your voter-registration card to see which ward you’re in if you don’t know.)

WARD 2: Vote for Matt Brown 

If you’ve ever sat through a BOMA meeting, you know Brown, first elected in 2021, cares a great deal about Franklin. He cares so much about the city, in fact, that he took it upon himself to reopen the beloved Five Points Post Office, which had been serving Franklin since 1924, until it closed in 2023. He and his wife now run the place. Brown has also done much to preserve and expand trails and green space in Franklin, without being all NIMBY about it. He’d make a good mayor one day, in my view (not that anyone asked me).

Brown’s chief opponent is Erinn Watkins, who moved to Franklin in 2020 and is supported by some of the same nuts who backed neo-Nazi-aligned mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson in 2023. Yikes. 

WARD 4: Vote for Patrick Baggett 

Baggett, who’s 38, was first elected in 2021. Since then, he has voted in support of building a ton of new affordable housing, and he voted to help the Franklin Housing Authority increase its number of units. And, after voting against Franklin Pride in 2023, he voted in favor of it the past two years. That’s all very much to his credit. I could nitpick Baggett for a few things, like his endorsement of PAC voucher goon Lee Reeves, but overall, Baggett has done a fine job and deserves to keep his seat.  

Perhaps the most compelling reason to vote for Baggett is that his opponent, Rodney Taylor, seems like a genuine crank. Taylor, age 84, has never—that’s right, never—voted in a Franklin city election before, according to his voter-history data, and he too is backed by some of Gabrielle Hanson’s former supporters. Taylor has posted some truly batty stuff on social media to boot—like blaming nearly every major mass shooting in America since 1999 on Democrats and adding, “We don’t need gun control, we need Democrat control.” Nice. Real nice. 

Ward 1 and Ward 3

Regrettably, no one decided to run against Bev Burger for her Ward 1 seat. Maybe next time! We live in hope. Not regrettably, however, Jason Potts is running unopposed in Ward 3. So congrats to him. 

One final thing: put December 2, 2025, on your calendar. That’s the date of the Tennessee 7th Congressional District Special Election, wherein our gerrylandered-to-hell district gets to pick Mark Green’s replacement in Congress. I’ll send a note on that race later. 

Now GO VOTE. —Jared Sullivan