Far-right candidate who wouldn't denounce white supremacist supporters loses Tennessee mayor's race

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Voters in a Tennessee city have firmly rejected a far-right mayoral candidate after she refused to denounce her white supremacist supporters, and the incumbent mayor decried hate and divisiveness as he celebrated his election win.

Gabrielle Hanson lost the race in Franklin by a wide margin Tuesday, according to unofficial results with all voting centers reporting. The Associated Press did not count votes in this election.

Hanson, an alderman for the city about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Nashville, also faced criticism about her background beyond the white supremacist support, much of which was uncovered in investigations by WTVF-TV. The controversy was amplified in national coverage, including by comedian John Oliver on his HBO show, “Last Week Tonight.”

With tensions already running high, the election was punctuated by the Williamson Herald newspaper revealing on Tuesday that flyers about “so-called ’leftist journalist’ propaganda” had been attached to their building.

The newspaper’s publisher wrote that the organizations responsible also threatened one of the publication’s reporters, its advertisers, and him and his wife. WTVF-TV reporter Phil Williams posted images of flyers that name him and include his photo, and social media posts intended to intimidate him.

“Neo-Nazis don’t have a place in our town,” Derby Jones, the newspaper’s publisher, wrote on Tuesday. “I say enough is enough. We have never seen this level of hate and divisiveness in Franklin. And to be so blatantly targeted and threatened is uncalled for.”

Incumbent Franklin Mayor Ken Moore called his win “a great victory for Franklin, Tennessee.”

“The people of Franklin have spoken and said: ’We’re not going to put up with the divisiveness, hate, anger that we’ve seen...