Richard Fulton
Encyclopedia
Richard Harmon "Dick" Fulton (born January 27, 1927) was a Democratic
politician who served as a member of the Tennessee State Senate and of the United States House of Representatives
, and the second mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville
and Davidson County
.
. As a youth he was once a paperboy. He served in the United States Navy
in World War II
.
. His election was challenged on this basis, and the Senate voted unanimously (28-0) to unseat Fulton, whose post was then taken by Clifford Allen
. Fulton ran for the position again in 1956, and this time was of age and seated. He was reelected in 1958, then left politics to begin a career in real estate
.
for the Nashville-based 5th Congressional District
against incumbent Congressman Joseph Carlton Loser
. In the August voting, Loser was the apparent victor. However, the election was contested by Fulton and a minor candidate, union activist Raymond Love. A subsequent series of articles on the front page of the Nashville Tennessean
and a lawsuit followed. The allegations of fraud were serious enough that a judge
ordered a new primary election. Love did not participate in this race, stating that his only desire had been one for an open, honest election and that the fraud alleged, while sufficient to have perhaps thwarted the election of Fulton, had not been of an extent sufficient to have prevented his election in any event. In the closely monitored rematch, Fulton defeated Loser rather handily, and breezed to victory in November.
Fulton was handily reelected in 1964, but in the next four cycles came closer than any Democrat before or since to losing a district that has been in Democratic hands since 1875. While his opponents were unwilling to state it publicly, much of the opposition to Fulton among some voters was his unabashed support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964
, which most white Southern Democrats actively opposed.
In 1966, 1968, and 1970, his Republican opponent was George Kelly, who owned a prominent flower shop in the Nashville suburb
of Donelson
. In 1968, Kelly almost defeated Fulton, losing by only four points—the closest any Republican has come, before or since, to winning the seat. It is very likely that Kelly would have won but for the presence of a candidate running under the banner of George Wallace
's American Independent Party
, who siphoned off enough conservative votes to keep Fulton in office. Wallace actually carried Nashville in that year's presidential election--the first time since the end of Reconstruction that the Democrats had failed to carry the city in a presidential election. Despite Kelly's repeated efforts to brand Fulton as an "ultra-liberal
" in television
spots, his campaign faltered in 1970, and he decided not to run for Congress again. (He later achieved regional fame around Nashville as the man who paid young people $10 for memorizing the Ten Commandments
.) In 1972, Fulton faced a fairly well funded challenge from attorney
Alf Adams, who tried to tie Fulton to Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern
. However, Adams was badly defeated, winning only 38% of the vote to 62% for Fulton. This was a considerable embarrassment to the Republicans, since Richard Nixon
carried Nashville by a substantial margin—the first Republican to do so since Reconstruction—with the support of many local Democrats, including Mayor Beverly Briley
. The Republicans have only put up nominal challengers in the 5th since then.
Fulton was very well known in Nashville and the immediate area, but quite obscure outside of it. He was a staunch supporter of music
interests in his votes, taking especial interest in areas such as copyright
law
. This may have in part been because Fulton, like many Nashvillians, was an amateur
songwriter
himself, at one point recording a song about a paperboy somewhat like the one that he had been in his youth. This interest landed him a slot as a contestant on the To Tell the Truth
game show
as the song-writing Congressman. (The show was not regarded as particularly dramatic in the Nashville area, however.)
, was barred from a fourth term by the Metro Charter. A secretive group of Nashville business
leaders known as "Watauga" (after the area in East Tennessee
from which the original white settlers of Nashville had migrated), was not impressed with the prospective successors that they saw among local political leaders. They approached Fulton and promised him that he would almost certainly win if he ran. This proved prophetic, as Fulton won the race that year with almost a two-thirds majority. His only major opponent, Criminal Court Clerk Earl Hawkins, received about 25%. (In contrast, the third-place finisher, plumbing
-supply store operator Ralph Cohen, received only about 6%.) He was succeeded in Washington by Clifford Allen
.
Fulton's first term was not without controversy. He ran for governor in 1978, finishing third in the Democratic primary
, behind flamboyant East Tennessee
bank
er Jake Butcher and then-Public Service Commissioner
Bob Clement
. In 1979 he was challenged by engineer
Dan Powers, a political novice who had the backing of Briley, and Helen Wills, an African-American who had retired from the United States Army
as a lieutenant colonel
. Fulton received only 53% of the vote, barely escaping a runoff against Powers. Apparently one of the problems some voters had with Fulton was that he ran for governor so soon after being elected mayor.
Fulton's second term for the most part went more smoothly, and his 1983 reelection came much more easily. In 1986 Fulton again ran for governor, again finishing third in the Democratic primary, behind state Speaker of the House
Ned McWherter
, and another Public Service Commissioner, Jane Eskind. This time, some of Fulton's detractors accused him of particularly heavy spending on public works projects in predominantly black areas of Nashville, and implied that this was a repeat of the pattern of eight years prior, with mysteriously little work having taken place in the area on these projects in the interim.
Fulton was the driving force behind the construction of the Nashville Convention Center in downtown
Nashville during the mid-1980s. Almost immediately after its 1987 opening, it was considered antiquated: too small, somewhat inaccessible, and unable to expand. Another larger, privately owned convention center was already open at the Opryland Hotel just a few miles away during that time, causing the downtown convention center to be overshadowed almost from its beginning. Even now, the NCC primarily books small functions and local events, while the Opryland convention center draws more corporate events and conventions from out of town. Therefore, the Nashville Convention Center has always carried the nickname "Fulton's Folly" in some circles.
. He was not far removed from public service, as his wife Sandra served in McWherter's Cabinet as Commissioner of Tourism. Fulton devoted his time to his family's real estate
business and his governmental-relations consulting firm, and occasionally appeared in Nashville media
as an expert political commentator.
However, when mayor Phil Bredesen
did not run for reelection as mayor in 1999 (it is still unclear whether a term limits provision amended into the Nashville Metro Charter after Fulton's time as mayor limiting city council
members to two consecutive four-year terms applies to mayors, superseding the former three-term limit; Bredesen chose not to contest this point), Fulton was again encouraged to run. From the outset of the 1999 race, it was apparent that there were actually three serious candidates: Fulton; Vice Mayor Jay West, son of 1950s Nashville mayor Ben West
and brother of popular state representative Ben West, Jr.; and former State House Majority Leader
and Vanderbilt University
employee Bill Purcell. Purcell received almost a majority of the votes, narrowly missing outright victory; Fulton finished a very distant second, just ahead of West. Since the Metro Charter requires mayors and city councilmen to win a majority, ordinarily a runoff would have occurred. However, Fulton announced shortly after the election that he felt that Purcell had won sufficiently and that he would not be contesting the runoff. By law, the runoff had to occur nonetheless; it was also necessary for some city council races, but Fulton's announcement meant that there was very little remaining interest, and hence a very low turnout, for the runoff when it did occur three weeks later. Purcell naturally won easily, which was apparently the outcome foreseen by Fulton and his supporters whether they had continued to contest the race or not.
Fulton returned to his real estate and consulting interests, which he still pursues .
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politician who served as a member of the Tennessee State Senate and of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, and the second mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
and Davidson County
Davidson County, Tennessee
Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 626,681. Its county seat is Nashville.In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and...
.
Background
Fulton was educated as a youth in the public schools of his native Nashville. He later attended the University of TennesseeUniversity of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
. As a youth he was once a paperboy. He served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
State Senate
In 1954, Fulton was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in place of his brother Lyle, who had died suddenly shortly after receiving the Democratic nomination for that post. Fulton was sworn in on January 3, 1955. However, he had not yet turned 30, the age required for senators under the Tennessee State ConstitutionTennessee State Constitution
The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules of the U.S. State of Tennessee....
. His election was challenged on this basis, and the Senate voted unanimously (28-0) to unseat Fulton, whose post was then taken by Clifford Allen
Clifford Allen
Clifford Robertson Allen was a Tennessee attorney and Democratic politician.-Early life and career:Allen was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated from Friends High School in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1931 and was admitted to...
. Fulton ran for the position again in 1956, and this time was of age and seated. He was reelected in 1958, then left politics to begin a career in real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
.
Congress
In 1962 he entered the Democratic primaryPrimary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
for the Nashville-based 5th Congressional District
Tennessee's 5th congressional district
The 5th Congressional District of Tennessee is a congressional district in Middle Tennessee. The most regularly drawn of the state's nine districts, it currently includes almost all of Davidson County, half of Wilson County, and half of Cheatham County...
against incumbent Congressman Joseph Carlton Loser
Joseph Carlton Loser
Joseph Carlton Loser was a Nashville, Tennessee Democratic politician.Loser was born in Davidson County, Tennessee. He attended public schools and the former YMCA Law School . He was secretary to the mayor of Nashville from 1917 to 1920 and was admitted to the bar in 1922...
. In the August voting, Loser was the apparent victor. However, the election was contested by Fulton and a minor candidate, union activist Raymond Love. A subsequent series of articles on the front page of the Nashville Tennessean
The Tennessean
The Tennessean is the principal daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky....
and a lawsuit followed. The allegations of fraud were serious enough that a judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
ordered a new primary election. Love did not participate in this race, stating that his only desire had been one for an open, honest election and that the fraud alleged, while sufficient to have perhaps thwarted the election of Fulton, had not been of an extent sufficient to have prevented his election in any event. In the closely monitored rematch, Fulton defeated Loser rather handily, and breezed to victory in November.
Fulton was handily reelected in 1964, but in the next four cycles came closer than any Democrat before or since to losing a district that has been in Democratic hands since 1875. While his opponents were unwilling to state it publicly, much of the opposition to Fulton among some voters was his unabashed support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
, which most white Southern Democrats actively opposed.
In 1966, 1968, and 1970, his Republican opponent was George Kelly, who owned a prominent flower shop in the Nashville suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Donelson
Donelson, Tennessee
Donelson is a neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee located east of downtown Nashville along U.S. Highway 70. It is named in honor of John Donelson, co-founder of Nashville and father-in-law of Andrew Jackson, Nashvillian and seventh President of the United States...
. In 1968, Kelly almost defeated Fulton, losing by only four points—the closest any Republican has come, before or since, to winning the seat. It is very likely that Kelly would have won but for the presence of a candidate running under the banner of George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
's American Independent Party
American Independent Party
The American Independent Party is a right-wing political party of the United States that was established in 1967 by Bill and Eileen Shearer. In 1968, the American Independent Party nominated George C. Wallace as its presidential candidate and retired Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay as the vice...
, who siphoned off enough conservative votes to keep Fulton in office. Wallace actually carried Nashville in that year's presidential election--the first time since the end of Reconstruction that the Democrats had failed to carry the city in a presidential election. Despite Kelly's repeated efforts to brand Fulton as an "ultra-liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
" in television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
spots, his campaign faltered in 1970, and he decided not to run for Congress again. (He later achieved regional fame around Nashville as the man who paid young people $10 for memorizing the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
.) In 1972, Fulton faced a fairly well funded challenge from attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Alf Adams, who tried to tie Fulton to Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
. However, Adams was badly defeated, winning only 38% of the vote to 62% for Fulton. This was a considerable embarrassment to the Republicans, since Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
carried Nashville by a substantial margin—the first Republican to do so since Reconstruction—with the support of many local Democrats, including Mayor Beverly Briley
Beverly Briley
Clifton Beverly Briley was the first mayor of the newly consolidated metropolitan government of Nashville and Davidson County. A Democrat, he served from 1963 to 1975.-Biography:...
. The Republicans have only put up nominal challengers in the 5th since then.
Fulton was very well known in Nashville and the immediate area, but quite obscure outside of it. He was a staunch supporter of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
interests in his votes, taking especial interest in areas such as copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. This may have in part been because Fulton, like many Nashvillians, was an amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
himself, at one point recording a song about a paperboy somewhat like the one that he had been in his youth. This interest landed him a slot as a contestant on the To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
as the song-writing Congressman. (The show was not regarded as particularly dramatic in the Nashville area, however.)
Mayor
In 1975, Briley, the only mayor Nashville had ever had since its consolidation with Davidson CountyDavidson County, Tennessee
Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 626,681. Its county seat is Nashville.In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and...
, was barred from a fourth term by the Metro Charter. A secretive group of Nashville business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
leaders known as "Watauga" (after the area in East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
from which the original white settlers of Nashville had migrated), was not impressed with the prospective successors that they saw among local political leaders. They approached Fulton and promised him that he would almost certainly win if he ran. This proved prophetic, as Fulton won the race that year with almost a two-thirds majority. His only major opponent, Criminal Court Clerk Earl Hawkins, received about 25%. (In contrast, the third-place finisher, plumbing
Plumbing
Plumbing is the system of pipes and drains installed in a building for the distribution of potable drinking water and the removal of waterborne wastes, and the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures in such systems. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping...
-supply store operator Ralph Cohen, received only about 6%.) He was succeeded in Washington by Clifford Allen
Clifford Allen
Clifford Robertson Allen was a Tennessee attorney and Democratic politician.-Early life and career:Allen was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated from Friends High School in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1931 and was admitted to...
.
Fulton's first term was not without controversy. He ran for governor in 1978, finishing third in the Democratic primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
, behind flamboyant East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
bank
Bank
A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...
er Jake Butcher and then-Public Service Commissioner
Tennessee Public Service Commission
The Tennessee Public Service Commission, also called Tennessee Railroad and Public Utilities Commission, was a three-member elected body which regulated private utilities, trucking firms, and railroads within the state of Tennessee...
Bob Clement
Bob Clement
Robert Nelson "Bob" Clement is a Tennessee politician and a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life:Clement is the son of former Governor Frank G. Clement...
. In 1979 he was challenged by engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
Dan Powers, a political novice who had the backing of Briley, and Helen Wills, an African-American who had retired from the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
as a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
. Fulton received only 53% of the vote, barely escaping a runoff against Powers. Apparently one of the problems some voters had with Fulton was that he ran for governor so soon after being elected mayor.
Fulton's second term for the most part went more smoothly, and his 1983 reelection came much more easily. In 1986 Fulton again ran for governor, again finishing third in the Democratic primary, behind state Speaker of the House
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
Ned McWherter
Ned McWherter
Ned Ray McWherter was an American politician who served as the 46th Governor of Tennessee from 1987 to 1995. He was a Democrat.McWherter was born in Palmersville, Weakley County, Tennessee...
, and another Public Service Commissioner, Jane Eskind. This time, some of Fulton's detractors accused him of particularly heavy spending on public works projects in predominantly black areas of Nashville, and implied that this was a repeat of the pattern of eight years prior, with mysteriously little work having taken place in the area on these projects in the interim.
Fulton was the driving force behind the construction of the Nashville Convention Center in downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
Nashville during the mid-1980s. Almost immediately after its 1987 opening, it was considered antiquated: too small, somewhat inaccessible, and unable to expand. Another larger, privately owned convention center was already open at the Opryland Hotel just a few miles away during that time, causing the downtown convention center to be overshadowed almost from its beginning. Even now, the NCC primarily books small functions and local events, while the Opryland convention center draws more corporate events and conventions from out of town. Therefore, the Nashville Convention Center has always carried the nickname "Fulton's Folly" in some circles.
After the mayoralty
Fulton was barred by the Metro Charter from running for a fourth consecutive term, and was succeeded by another member of Congress, Bill BonerBill Boner
William Hill "Bill" Boner is a Tennessee educator and former Democratic politician. He was the third mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, serving from 1987 to 1991. He served in the U.S...
. He was not far removed from public service, as his wife Sandra served in McWherter's Cabinet as Commissioner of Tourism. Fulton devoted his time to his family's real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
business and his governmental-relations consulting firm, and occasionally appeared in Nashville media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
as an expert political commentator.
However, when mayor Phil Bredesen
Phil Bredesen
Philip Norman "Phil" Bredesen Jr. was the 48th Governor of Tennessee, serving from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected Governor in 2002, and was re-elected in 2006. He previously served as the fourth mayor of Nashville and Davidson County from 1991 to...
did not run for reelection as mayor in 1999 (it is still unclear whether a term limits provision amended into the Nashville Metro Charter after Fulton's time as mayor limiting city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
members to two consecutive four-year terms applies to mayors, superseding the former three-term limit; Bredesen chose not to contest this point), Fulton was again encouraged to run. From the outset of the 1999 race, it was apparent that there were actually three serious candidates: Fulton; Vice Mayor Jay West, son of 1950s Nashville mayor Ben West
Ben West
Raphael Benjamin West was mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 1951-1963. West was born on March 31, 1911, in Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee the son of Martha Melissa and her husband James Watt West....
and brother of popular state representative Ben West, Jr.; and former State House Majority Leader
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
and Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...
employee Bill Purcell. Purcell received almost a majority of the votes, narrowly missing outright victory; Fulton finished a very distant second, just ahead of West. Since the Metro Charter requires mayors and city councilmen to win a majority, ordinarily a runoff would have occurred. However, Fulton announced shortly after the election that he felt that Purcell had won sufficiently and that he would not be contesting the runoff. By law, the runoff had to occur nonetheless; it was also necessary for some city council races, but Fulton's announcement meant that there was very little remaining interest, and hence a very low turnout, for the runoff when it did occur three weeks later. Purcell naturally won easily, which was apparently the outcome foreseen by Fulton and his supporters whether they had continued to contest the race or not.
Fulton returned to his real estate and consulting interests, which he still pursues .