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Jeff Yarbro

This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Post. The Banner is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization focused on civic news and will launch later this year. For more information, and to read a longer version of this interview, visit NashvilleBanner.com.

State Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) jumped into the mayor’s race two weeks ago, joining an increasingly crowded field to succeed John Cooper. Yarbro first appeared on the political scene as a young upstart who nearly knocked state Sen. Doug Henry from his three decade tenure in the Senate in 2010. He succeeded Henry in 2014 and has been on a short list of “Democrats to watch” ever since. The Banner talked with Yarbro about why he decided to get in now, whether a current state legislator is right to manage the city and state’s fractured relationship and what he thinks are the biggest issues in the race.