GOP and Democratic officials in Nashville unite over renaming airport
for Dolly Parton
[September 12, 2026]
By TRAVIS LOLLER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — In Nashville, Tennessee, the
Republican-dominated state government and Democrat-controlled city
government are engaged in an ugly battle for control of the city's
airport.
But there's one thing the two sides can agree on: Nashville
International Airport should be renamed to honor Tennessee's favorite
daughter, Dolly Parton. The change would make Parton the first woman
whose name adorns one of America’s 50 busiest airports.
Lydia Popovich, a Parton superfan who started a petition for the name
change in 2025, said on Friday that Parton had gracefully batted down
the idea of naming the airport after her, as she did with many other
proposed honors during her lifetime. That includes a bill brought by
Tennessee lawmakers in 2021 to place a statue of her on the Capitol
grounds.
Parton asked lawmakers to withdraw the bill but expressed a hope that it
might happen “somewhere down the road several years from now or perhaps
after I’m gone if you still feel I deserve it.”
Effort to rename airport gained steam after Parton's death
After Parton's death two weeks ago, the airport naming idea seemingly
caught fire, with Popovich's petition reaching more than 175,000
signatures — not that the officials competing to run the airport needed
the push.
At a meeting Friday of the state-controlled Metropolitan Nashville
Airport Authority, a motion directing the airport CEO to begin the
renaming process was unanimously approved by board members praising
Parton to the heavens. Airport officials said the change could take a
year or more and involves working with Parton's estate to determine how
they might split profits from merchandise sales, among other things.
Bipartisan agreement on name change is a departure
There are two Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authorities: one run by the
state and the other controlled by the city, a bifurcated regulatory
system that was created in 2023 amid a partisan dispute between the
GOP-run state and the Democratic-run city. Who actually controls the
airport has been in dispute ever since, with competing boards taking the
reins only to be deposed as courts rule and are overturned.
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 Despite the acrimony, Nashville's
Democratic Mayor Freddie O'Connell and the competing,
city-controlled Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority are also in
support of the name change, according to O'Connell spokesman Alex
Apple.
“The FAA's going to get two votes from two boards, both in favor,”
Apple said.
The situation is ironic, and it's hard to imagine that Parton would
approve.
Stuart McWhorter, a member of the state-controlled board and deputy
to Tennessee's Republican Gov. Bill Lee, briefly mentioned the
dispute at the Friday meeting. He suggested that in the spirit of
Parton “we can get beyond the litigation and get back to working
together.”
Supporter of name change: ‘She’s the best of Tennessee'
Born in poverty in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains,
Parton became an icon whose popularity crossed generational,
geographic and political boundaries. In addition to writing and
recording hit songs such as “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,”
she starred in Hollywood films including “9 to 5” and “Steel
Magnolias.”
Popovich, who attended the Friday meeting and spoke in favor of the
proposal, was in tears after the unanimous vote in favor.
“It's been a really beautiful experience, especially as you're
grieving someone that was such a great loss,” she told The
Associated Press. “She's the best of Tennessee. She's the best of
the humans on the planet. She was this magical person that provided
light and guidance to all of us.
“Unfortunately she's left us, but now we get to celebrate her and
get to tell the world how much Tennessee loved her.”
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