Two candidates seeking to represent eastern Nashville in the Tennessee House are proposing property tax restrictions with different approaches: Republican Eva Angelina Romero favors limiting annual increases, while Democratic incumbent Shaundelle Brooks has introduced a ceiling on county tax rates.
Their contest for House District 60 also brings gun policy, police surveillance technology and a substantial fundraising gap into a race for a seat Democrats have held through several close elections. The district includes Donelson, Hermitage and part of Old Hickory.
Brooks won her first term in 2024 by roughly 2,300 votes. She succeeded Democrat Darren Jernigan, who represented the district from 2013 to 2024 after winning his initial election by just 95 votes in 2012. Both Brooks and Romero advanced through their party primaries without opposition this year.
Property taxes are a central issue for Romero, a real estate agent who co-founded a dental clinic with her husband and serves on the Tennessee Housing Development Agency board. Her proposals include a 2 percent ceiling on annual property tax increases and a property tax freeze for homeowners age 65 and older.
In a July interview with the Music City Mindset podcast, Romero described rising tax costs as a threat to housing stability, particularly for vulnerable residents and first-time buyers. She said she would prefer ultimately eliminating property taxes but did not consider that immediately achievable.
Romero also backs Amendment 2, a proposed change to the Tennessee Constitution that would bar the legislature from creating a state property tax. It is one of three constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot. Tennessee has gone more than 75 years without collecting a state property tax; the amendment concerns state taxation rather than the local taxes that support Metro government.
Brooks has pursued a separate restriction through HB 2325, which would cap county property taxes at $3 for every $100 of assessed value. The bill was deferred to the January 2027 calendar.
The legislature’s fiscal review committee estimated that the proposal would reduce Nashville’s local revenue by $98 million. Metro collected $1.26 billion in property taxes in 2024. Property taxes remain its largest revenue source, accounting for 56.69 percent of the city’s $3.85 billion budget this year.
Public safety is another major part of the candidates’ agendas. For Brooks, gun legislation is rooted in the death of her son, 23-year-old Akilah Dasilva, who was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at an Antioch Waffle House. Her advocacy after the shooting led her to seek elected office.
During her first term, Brooks introduced HB 0947, known as Akilah’s Law. It would have criminalized selling, delivering or transferring a firearm to someone known to have been a patient in a mental institution within the preceding five years.
Brooks argued that such a law would have allowed prosecutors to charge the Waffle House shooter’s father for giving his son the firearms used in the attack. The proposal advanced through a subcommittee but was taken off notice in committee this year. Some advocates raised concerns that its reach could deter people from voluntarily seeking mental health care, including counseling.
Brooks’ reelection platform calls for stronger violence prevention efforts, expanded responses to mental health crises, and investment in youth opportunities and prevention programs.
Romero supports wider use of license plate readers in Nashville. Her campaign website calls for state legislation preventing local officials from blocking police access to public safety technology and data feeds. The devices have drawn opposition from people across the political spectrum in Nashville and elsewhere in Tennessee over privacy concerns.
Romero holds a sizable financial advantage. Campaign finance filings show approximately $84,000 raised for her campaign, compared with about $7,600 for Brooks, as of the week of Oct. 8.
Romero’s contributors include former CoreCivic chief executive Damon Hininger, Plaza Mariachi co-founder Diane Janbakhsh, auto dealer Lea Beaman and Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce board chair Victor Berrios. She also received contributions from 19 real estate agents outside Tennessee, along with Friends of Police PAC and Latinos for Tennessee.
Brooks has endorsements from Everytown for Gun Safety, the Tennessee Hispanic Action Network, AFL-CIO and Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood. Her donors include state Reps. Bob Freeman and Gloria Johnson, Metro Councilmembers Mike Cortese and Jacob Kupin, and commercial developer Dan Heller.