Adam "Ditch" Kurtz
Nashville musician & activist
Adam "Ditch" Kurtz ran in the August 6 Democratic primary and received 3.5% of the vote (12,456 votes), 65.5 points behind Jerri Green, who won the nomination with 69.0%. Results are complete but unofficial until county election commissions certify them by August 24, 2026.
Primary results, county by county →Nashville, Davidson
No TREF disclosure on file at last refresh
About
Nashville pedal steel guitarist who launched his campaign at The 5 Spot in East Nashville in May 2025 with the slogan "By the people, for the people, I'm a people." Running a grassroots small-donor-only campaign that explicitly rejects corporate money.
Wants Tennessee public schools to be "number one in the country." Supports raising teacher pay, supporting teachers' unions, and directing marijuana tax revenue toward schools.
What "Ditch" Kurtz brings to the race
Kurtz ran in the August 6 Democratic primary and did not win the nomination. He ran a small-donor campaign that declined corporate money.
Explore the Tracker
About this tracker
This tracker is produced by The Tennessee Firefly, an independent, nonpartisan news outlet covering education and government in Tennessee. We don't endorse candidates. We don't take political ads. We follow the money, the policy, and the people who shape your kids' schools. All data comes from official filings, verified reporting, and on-the-record sources, with freshness timestamps visible on every page that surfaces live data.