Nashville Councilmember Styles to challenge mayor in 2027

Second term Metro Nashville Councilmember Joy Styles will run against Mayor Freddie O’Connell in 2027, she announced on Jan. 20, 2026. (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)

Photographs by John Partipilo/ Tennessee Lookout

A second-term Metro Councilmember announced on Tuesday she will run for Nashville mayor in 2027, challenging incumbent Freddie O’Connell. 

Joy Styles, who represents South Nashville’s District 32, said the city is suffering from a lack of leadership.  

“I’m here today to tell you that the needs of all Nashvillians are not being met,” said Styles. 

She made her announcement from Global Mall — the former Hickory Hollow Mall that was repurposed to include a community center and library — and said the O’Connell administration has failed to make sufficient investment in the facility, which sat vacant for years. 

Styles worked with the administration of prior Mayor John Cooper to begin redeveloping it.

“This mayor has made massive investments into (Nashville’s) East Bank, which I like to call the ‘invisible city,’ because no one lives there yet,” Styles said. “We could be investing in this site.” 

Metro Council approved the $44 million purchase of the mall in 2022, when Cooper’s original idea included renting a portion of the property to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, though Cooper did not secure a legally binding agreement with VUMC before the vote. A formal agreement with Vanderbilt never came to pass. Demolition of the mall’s interior began in 2024, and a public comment period for the city’s plans for the building began that summer.

The city is expected to conduct a transportation infrastructure study of the area this year to inform plans for a WeGo transit center.

The East Bank development plan was also created under the Cooper administration. 

Styles has taken issue with O’Connell’s leadership and decisions his administration has made on several issues since he was elected as mayor in 2023. 

She advocated for an investigation of Metro’s Office of Emergency Management amid claims of harassment by Director Steve Martini, who was recently placed on leave after a report substantiated the claims. 

During her first term, she pushed for the creation of the Nashville Music, Film and Entertainment Commission.

Styles has also been the subject of two ethics complaints, and a Metro Human Resources report finding she behaved inappropriately towards employees of the Metro Arts Commission during a 2024 period of upheaval. 

O’Connell is expected to run for reelection but with the election more than 18 months away, has not formally announced. 

West Nashville activist Lou Wilbanks has also said she will run to be Nashville’s chief executive.

Styles has a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and a master’s degree from Purdue University. She has worked in the entertainment industry since moving to Nashville in 2006.