Jim DeLanis
Jim DeLanis has served on the Election Commission since 2013. A native of Ohio, Mr. DeLanis graduated from Dartmouth College in 1975 and Vanderbilt Law School in 1978. He served one year as law clerk to Nashville Circuit Court Judge James Swiggart and two years as Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, State of Tennessee. He entered the private practice of law in 1981 and specializes in business litigation.
Mr. DeLanis has been recognized in Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers for business and intellectual property litigation. He has served as President of the Nashville Bar Association Pro Bono Program and was chairman of the fundraising campaign for Legal Aid in 2012, among other Bar activities. A past president of the Nashville Humane Association, Mr. DeLanis has served on its board and in other capacities since 1995. He has been active in numerous charitable organizations and currently serves on the advisory board of Blood Assurance of Tennessee.
Jim is an avid handball and tennis player, enjoys hiking and gardening, and lives with his rescue dog, Cuppy, in the Hillsboro/West End neighborhood.
Tricia Herzfeld
Tricia Herzfeld is a founding partner at Herzfeld, Suetholz, Gastel, Leniski and Wall, PLLC. She has extensive experience in handling complex litigation, along with numerous, high-profile civil rights cases in state and federal courts in the areas of sexual assault, harassment and discrimination, free speech, freedom of religion, equal protection, immigrants’ rights and racial profiling, which have led to multi-million-dollar settlements for clients.
Tricia earned her undergraduate degree from George Washington University and received her law degree from George Washington University Law School.
For their work on the Tennessee opioids litigation on behalf of cities and counties in Upper East Tennessee, Tricia and the members of the opioid team were awarded the 2022 Outstanding Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. In 2018, Tricia was honored to receive the Amiga We Love Award from Conexión Americas. A graduate of the 2010 Tennessee Bar Association Leadership Law program, she is a frequent lecturer on a variety of civil rights and civil liberties issues, including election law and systemic voter disenfranchisement.
Tricia was named a Tennessee Supreme Court Attorney for Justice every year since 2018. She is on the advisory board of the Tennessee Language Center, an agency of the University of Tennessee’s Institute for Public Service. She also volunteers with Conexión Américas and Oasis Center. Tricia has served on the Davidson County Election Commission since 2013.
Will Burns
Will “Butch” Burns is an attorney with degrees from Middle Tennessee State University and the Nashville School of Law. Mr. Burns spent almost 30 years in state government positions largely dedicated to public policy development and implementation and representing his agencies before the General Assembly. His work was mostly in public higher education, as well as five years as the State Coordinator of Elections.
As elections coordinator, Mr. Burns worked with county election officials to seek passage of legislation to create and then implement Early Voting and agency-based voter registration in Tennessee. He also held several leadership positions in the National Association of State Election Directors.
Mr. Burns is a Colson Fellow of the Colson Center of Christian Worldview and has served on various nonprofit boards, currently including Williamson College, The Tennessee Center for Bioethics and Culture, and Graffiti Ministries Learning Center in Brooklyn, NY.
He and his wife Maribeth have been married for over 40 years, have two daughters and five grandchildren, and are active at The Village Chapel. Mr. Burns enjoys running, live music events, and spending time with his family.
Dan Davis
The biography of Commissioner Dan Davis will be posted here when it is available.
A.J. Starling
A.J. Starling's career in the Labor Movement began in 1971 with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1235 in Nashville, Tennessee, as a bus operator. He was later elected to the Union Executive Board and eventually Recording Secretary of Local 1235, where he served for 12 years.
While he was a bus operator, Mr. Starling received recognition as Operator of the Year, Perfect Attendance Award and Safe Driving Award for 18 years. He also received an award that was named in his and his supervisor’s (Frank Brooks) honor. The Brooks-Starling Award is given annually to the operator who has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Before leaving as an operator, Mr. Starling worked in numerous political campaigns with the Tennessee AFL-CIO and the National AFL-CIO.
In 1988, Mr. Starling was selected by Tennessee AFL-CIO President Jim Neeley to serve as Labor Coordinator in the Technical Assistance Program, where he worked with the Tennessee Department of Labor in the Dislocated Workers Unit, assisting hundreds of people secure training and re-employment.
Within 2 years, Mr. Starling was promoted to Director of the Technical Assistance Program, where he planned and supervised all phases and operations. Under his leadership, program staff doubled and the annual budget grew to almost a half million dollars.
Mr. Starling was named Director of Political Affairs in 2003, and currently serves as Secretary/Treasurer of the Tennessee AFL-CIO. He is active in community and political activities, including membership on the Workforce Investment Board (WIA#9), State of Tennessee Tax Structure Study Commission, Red Cross Board, State President of the Asa Phillip Randolph Institute, Trustee of Westwood Baptist Church. A.J. and his wife Marieta have two sons, Jeff and Andrae.