First Lady Jill Biden was in Nashville today to visit a pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinic, Nashville Post reports. Biden encouraged those in attendance to stay updated on their COVID-19 vaccinations, including the most recent bivalent vaccine, designed to protect against the Omicron variant. After the vaccine event, Biden attended a private Democratic National Committee fundraiser. Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jason Martin and state Sen. Heidi Campbell, the Democratic nominee in the 5th Congressional District, were among those attending.

Nonprofit CEO Hal Cato will not be in the field competing to be Nashville’s next mayor, the Nashville Post and Nashville Banner report. Cato, who left his post at Thistle Farms to consider a challenge to Mayor John Cooper, said he had “decided that I am not the right next leader for our metropolitan government.” Still in the race are Council Member Freddie O’Connell and former investment banker and Economic Development leader Matt Wiltshire. Others said to be considering a run are State Rep. Bob Freeman, Council Member Sharon Hurt, former AllianceBernstein COO Jim Gingrich and entrepreneur Quincy McKnight.

Former Govs. Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam have joined forces to launch a new podcast that will delve into hot-button political issues like gun violence, climate change and affordable housing, Axios Nashville reports. The new show, “You Might Be Right,” launches tomorrow and hopes to elevate bipartisan problem-solving and civil conversations that include different parts of the political spectrum. The podcast comes from the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee and will feature an eight-episode season with guests like former Vice President Al Gore, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan and former U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. Listen to the trailer for “You Might Be Right.”

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has unanimously recommended an audit of Gary Humble's state Senate campaign to see if there was improper coordination between Humble and the nonprofit issue advocacy group Tennessee Stands, the Tennessean reports. Humble, who lost a close race to Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, in the August Republican primary, is executive director of the group. Tom Lawless, a registry board member, said Tennessee Stands may have held events and promoted Humble's campaign without disclosing that spending to the registry. Another complaint alleged the group failed to disclose who paid for a campaign mailer.

Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Paul Young has announced he will run for mayor of Memphis in 2023, the Commercial Appeal reports. Prior to the downtown commission, Young headed up the city’s Housing and Community Development for five years. "Over the last few years, I've gotten the opportunity to participate in the revitalization of this community," Young told the Commercial Appeal on Monday. "And I want to see it continue. I want to see us continue to move down a path where we are finding opportunities for our people.” Young’s announcement came on the same day as one from former Shelby County Commissioner and NAACP President Van Turner.  They are the first two to announce campaigns in what is expected to be a crowded race to succeed Mayor Jim Strickland, who will term out next year.

Memphis attorney and Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner is expected to announce on Thursday that he is running for Memphis mayor in 2023, the Daily Memphian reports. The announcement will take place at Health Sciences Park, which was sold to Memphis Greenspace Inc., a nonprofit headed by Turner, in 2017. The organization then had a monument of Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest removed from the grounds. Turner was also instrumental in the removal of the remains of Forrest and his wife from beneath the monument last year. Turner’s second term as commissioner will conclude on Wednesday. He is the first to announce a campaign in what is expected to be a crowded field of contenders to succeed Mayor Jim Strickland, who is terming out.

The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance, represented by the Attorney General’s Office, has asked a Davidson County chancellor to find former House Aide Cade Cothren in contempt of court and order him to comply with two subpoenas, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The state argues Cothren, who is ex-chief of staff for former House Speaker Glen Casada, didn’t give a good reason for refusing to testify before the Registry board or providing documents regarding a political action committee he secretly ran. The court filing came in response to claims by Cothren’s attorney that he should not have to testify before the board after invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a letter to the board. Chancellor-elect I’Ashea Myles will hear the case in September. Myles is taking over the caseload of Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle as she steps down from the bench on Aug. 31.

Cade Cothren, former chief of staff for ex-House Speaker Glen Casada, is challenging a subpoena to testify before the Registry of Election Finance regarding a political action committee he secretly ran, the Tennessee Lookout reports. The Registry subpoenaed Cothren in January after a former girlfriend testified she formed the Faith Family Freedom Fund Political Action Committee at Cothren’s request so he could run it secretly. Cothren’s attorney, Cynthia Sherwood of Nashville, claims the court should not hold him in contempt for invoking his right against self-incrimination in response to subpoenas. Ahead of a September hearing in front of Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle, Sherwood is arguing that overlapping cases against Cothren should circumvent the state subpoena. The court filing acknowledges the Registry’s authority to refer cases for criminal prosecution but says “the authority to subpoena Mr. Cothren should yield to Mr. Cothren’s constitutional right against compelled testimony.”

National Republican leaders today officially picked Milwaukee as the host site for the 2024 Republican National Convention, finally ending Nashville’s bid for the event. The selection was all but guaranteed before Friday, as Metro Council leaders rejected proposals to cooperate with the Republican National Committee on the event, citing potential violence at the nominating convention, the Nashville Post reports.

The Nashville Metro Council last night voted 22-10 against a draft agreement paving the way for the Republican National Convention to be hosted in Nashville in 2024, the Nashville Post reports. Those opposed to the proposal expressed concerns about possible violence at the event. State officials, all of them Republican, have hinted at possible retribution for Nashville’s unwillingness to host the event. “The people of Tennessee will remember this vote for a long time and so will I,” House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, said after the vote.