A group that advocates for illegal aliens has endorsed Freddie O’Connell in his bid to become Nashville’s next mayor.
The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), via its political arm TIRRC Votes, endorsed the District 19 Metro Council Member on Thursday.
“For us, on the eve of early voting, with thousands of Nashvillians considering who to vote for, we are excited to say that Freddie is our choice to lead the city,” Lisa Sherman Luna, TIRRC Votes executive director, reportedly said. “We need someone who understands all the levers to pull and the importance of including immigrant families in decisions and policies about our city, and so for us, it was Freddie’s enthusiasm, his commitment and his readiness but also his vision for our city.”
TIRRC says that it exists due to a “unrelenting assault on immigrant families and our fundamental American values,” and its goal is “to build political power for immigrant and refugee communities and to create a pro-immigrant majority in the state.”
O’Connell (pictured above) thanked the group for its endorsement.
“I’ve learned from and worked with TIRRC for almost 20 years as they’ve helped to make Nashville and Tennessee more fundamentally welcoming communities,” O’Connell he reportedly said. “I’m deeply honored to have earned the endorsement and support of one of the most effective voter mobilizing organizations in the state and look forward to continuing to partner and collaborate with them.”
The endorsement comes on the heels of the news that Nashville-area soccer coach Camilo Hurtado Campos, who allegedly raped numerous boys between the ages of nine and 17, was an illegal alien and has been living in the United States for at least 20 years.
As early voting begins, O’Connell leads the field of 12 candidates in polling.
Citing a Harpeth Strategies poll, The Tennesseean reports that of 502 likely Nasvhillian voters, 20% said they were inclined to vote for O’Connell. The poll, conducted on July 5 and 6, found that 15% of likely voters support Matt Wiltshire, former economic development director for the city. About 13% of likely voters say they will vote for Alice Rolli, a career public school teacher.
No other candidate is polling in the double-digits, but 26% of voters have not decided for whom they will vote.
Conspicuously left off the list of highly-polling candidates is State Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville), who is notable for her bombastic Twitter presence.
The election will be held on August 3.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Freddie O’Connell” by Freddie O’Connell.
