Megan Barry leads Nashville Banner 'Power Poll'

At-large Metro Councilwoman Megan Barry has emerged the winner of an ultra-insiders poll of Nashville's mayoral race conducted by the relaunched Nashville Banner.

The Banner, an online-only publication led by former Nashville Scene editor and columnist Bruce Dobie, called its survey a "power poll." The news outlet identified 623 "influencers" in Nashville. They were emailed two questions last week:

1. Who do you plan to vote for in Nashville's mayor's race?

2. Where will candidates finish in the mayoral race?

Barry, a favorite of progressives who figures to draw big support in her home Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood and parts of East Nashville, collected support from 22.74 percent of respondents to question 1. Around 35 percent said they were undecided.

Others finished accordingly:

David Fox: 12.71 percent

Charles Robert Bone: 10.37 percent

Bill Freeman: 7.69 percent

Jeremy Kane: 5.69

Businesswoman Linda Eskind Rebrovick: 2.68 percent

Criminal Court Clerk Howard Gentry: 2.01 percent

Used car salesman Kevin Eaton: .67 percent.

The more intriguing question, though, was the latter, asking respondents to say who they believed will win the race.

Barry was not only the choice of those surveyed — she was also the most predicted winner with this second question. From Dobie:

"Most respondents — 32.44% — said they thought Barry would place first. 21.4% thought Freeman would place first, and 20.4% had Bone finishing first. Fox was considered a first-place finisher by 10.37%, Gentry by 8.36%, Kane by 5.69%, Rebrovick by 1.34% and Eaton by no one."

Full disclosure: I was among the 623 Nashvillians surveyed by the Nashville Banner. For my part, I only answered question 2. In all, 299 people actually took part in poll. It's an interesting list. Take a look here.

The Nashville Banner's "Power Poll" is far from a scientific look at the mayor's race. Nevertheless, it does show were things are tilting right now from the perspective of the courthouse crowd — Barry is seen by most as the front-runner four months out from the election. That was the case several months ago as well.

Dobie explains the rationale behind the poll:

"The poll is not a scientific measure of the broad electorate. It is, instead, a measure of how the class of influential and powerful Nashvillians view the race. To that end, it is an important gauge coming from an important set of people. The Banner intends to continue polling the Power Poll membership about the mayor's race over the next several months. It will also poll about other issues facing the city."