Nashville school board race: Taylor edges out win among District 1 Democrats

Robert Taylor narrowly won the Democratic primary for the District 1 Metro Nashville Public Schools board seat on Tuesday, beating LaTonya Winfrey by just 104 votes and Dominque McCord-Cotton by 360 votes.

The other four seats up for grabs in this year's election — District 3, 5, 7 and 9 — all have candidates running unopposed so far, two of whom are incumbents.

Here's how the votes broke down.

Demytris Savage-Short, the sole Republican candidate running for District 1, will advance to the Aug. 1 county general election.

Tennessee: See primary election results from March 5

Davidson County: See primary elections results from March 5

What to know about Robert Taylor

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Maryland, Taylor ultimately settled in Nashville in 2008 with his wife and kids. He now works as an instructor at Meharry Medical College. He previously ran for the District 1 seat against then-incumbent Sharon Gentry. A former family intervention specialist for the White's Creek cluster, Taylor wants to help grow family and community partnerships in a way that is consistent for all schools. He also wants to address disparities in how resources are distributed across schools and to address overcrowding issues in schools.

The morning after the election, Taylor thanked his supporters and said the strong turnout and close race was a sign that every vote matters.

"I'm just excited about the opportunity to make good on all my campaign promises and ... to unify our district around this idea that education is our number one priority," he said. "We can make Metro Schools the best option for parents."

What to know about Demytris Savage-Short

A private duty pediatric nurse, a mother and a devout Christian, Savage-Short believes strongly in giving parents more authority over what their children are taught in public schools. She and her husband chose to pull their daughter out of elementary school at MNPS in 2021 because they were concerned over what was being taught about homosexuality, among other things they saw as age-inappropriate and indoctrination. Their daughter is now home-schooled. They also believe their daughter was not getting a quality basic education. She said she feels called by God to run and wants to push for a return to classical education and firmer discipline at MNPS. It is her first time running for school board.

Short released the following statement to The Tennessean the day after the primary election:

"I first want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving my team and I the victory. Secondly, I want to thank all of the prayer warriors who have been diligently praying and I thank those who voted. As I continue on with the call that has been placed upon on me, I promise to protect parental rights and authority. I promise to promote education and not indoctrination. I promise to fight for financial equality for schools in District 1. Once again, thank you all who prayed and voted."

District 1 race: Learn more about the school board candidates

Who are the candidates in the other school board races?

District 3: Current board member Emily Masters did not run for reelection. Former Metro Council member Zach Young, a Democrat, is running for the seat.

District 5: Board member Christiane Buggs left her seat shortly after she was named as the new CEO of nonprofit Public Education Needs Community Involvement and Leadership, also known as PENCIL. Amazon business analyst TK Fayne is running for the seat.

District 7: Current board member Freda Player is running again for her seat. She also serves as the co-chair of the board.

District 9: Current board member Abigail Tylor is running again for her seat.

What's next?

Independent candidates can join the school board race ahead of the county general election on Aug. 1. They have until April 4 to file their petition and qualify to run. After that, the Aug. 1 ballot will be finalized.

The deadline to register to vote in the August election is July 2. Early voting runs from July 12-27. The last day to request an absentee ballot is July 25.

Learn more about the election, voting and more at nashville.gov/vote.

Reach children's reporter Rachel Wegner at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter, Threads and Bluesky @RachelAnnWegner.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: MNPS board race: Taylor edges out win among District 1 Democrats