Republican state house candidate Eva Romero says her family received a death threat on the very first day of early voting in Nashville, after someone replied to a routine campaign text with a message vowing to kill her and her relatives. Romero described the message as explicit, saying it threatened not just her but her family as well. Metro Nashville Police have confirmed the threat was reported and say their Specialized Investigations Division is now trying to identify who sent it.
According to WSMV, the threat arrived after Romero's campaign team sent out a text reminding voters that early voting had begun. An individual responded by threatening to kill Romero and her family. Romero told the station, “Yesterday was a hard day,” referring to Wednesday, when the message landed just hours before polls opened for Davidson County's 16-day early-voting window — a window that, per the Metro Nashville Elections Commission, runs from October 14 through October 29 ahead of the November 3 general election.
Metro Nashville Police said they received the threatening text Wednesday, and an officer completed an intimidation report as the Specialized Investigations Division works to trace its origin, the station's report notes. Romero said she was shaken by the situation, but told the outlet she is moving forward with her campaign and that the threat will not stop her from voting early at the polls herself.
A Swing District Already Defined by Sharp Debate
Romero is running against Democratic incumbent Shaundelle Brooks for Tennessee House District 60, which covers the Old Hickory and Hermitage area of eastern Davidson County. The seat was held by Democrats for 15 consecutive years before 2026, making it one of the few genuinely competitive legislative districts in the Nashville area, as Hoodline previously reported in its profile of the two candidates.
Brooks condemned acts or threats of violence against anyone, per the same account from the station, and said a senseless act of violence had fueled her own decision to become a state representative — a reference to the 2018 shooting at a Nashville Waffle House in which her son was killed. Brooks also cited protecting families, strengthening communities, and elevating mental health as a public safety priority when explaining her decision to become a state representative, the outlet reported.
Romero, for her part, said she appreciated the people who reached out to her from both sides of the aisle in the aftermath. She said the episode opened her eyes to the state of the political climate and urged people to use common sense and talk to one another instead of attacking each other.
Election Security
A nationwide review has examined threats. The U.S. Department of Justice's Election Threats Task Force, established in June 2021, has brought 20 charges related to threats against election workers. A separate 2024 survey by the Brennan Center found that more than 90 percent of local election officials had taken election-security steps.
Tennessee law classifies criminal harassment as a Class A misdemeanor, according to Justia Law.
For now, the identity of the sender remains unknown, and whether digital phone records will lead to criminal charges has not been determined. Romero says she is continuing to campaign as early voting proceeds across Davidson County, with the race between her and Brooks remaining one of the more closely watched contests in the region heading toward Election Day.
