Category: Politics Beat Blog

On Thursday of this week, the 2002 election for countywide offices will have reached that point best characterized in a Churchillian phrase: The End of the Beginning. The buildup is over and from this point on it’s a downhill scramble (perhaps in more senses than one).

Mayor’s Race: Not much change on the Democratic side; it’s still a three-way struggle between Public Defender AC Wharton, Bartlett banker Harold Byrd, and state Representative Carol Chumney. Wharton’s camp — candidate, entourage, and all — exudes a confidence that could, in the end, be self-limiting.

At the opening of his Poplar Avenue headquarters on Saturday, Wharton exhorted his crowd (several hundred strong but containing no notable new faces) with thoughts about victory and of “progress” for Shelby County but avoided mention of any issues or other particulars.

As before, the chief plank in Wharton’s platform would seem to be himself — a smooth, likable, reassuring presence but one with a rhetoric that so far is skating lightly on the surface of eggs.

During the previous week, a member of Wharton’s campaign team fretted about an “image problem” and confided that the candidate might be taking his African-American base for granted. He noted the continued courtship of black ministers by opponent Byrd, who indeed scheduled a “Ministers’ Luncheon” as such for this week.

Despite occasional reports from his own camp that he intends some hard-hitting issues-talk, Byrd himself has tended so far to be somewhat unspecific, although at a recent, well-attended women’s luncheon he promised an array of “position papers” and uttered some cautious grace notes about Memphis mayor Willie Herenton‘s proposals for city/county consolidation.

Chumney, meanwhile, has her endorsements — from the AFL-CIO and from the Women’s Caucus, among others — and is pursuing a strategy of direct advocacy for positions, including those of consolidation and programmed debt-reduction.

On the Republican side, most party cadres are still lined up solidly with state Representative Larry Scroggs, who — along with Chumney — has been freshly empowered by new legislation, signed week before last by Governor Don Sundquist, that eases restrictions on in-session fund-raising for members of the General Assembly, who are now allowed to raise money for local races.

Especially considering that the legislature — hung up as always in a budget-plan stalemate — is now in the second week of a three-week hiatus, that should generate some immediate fund-raising activity on the part of Scroggs and Chumney, both of whom are facing opponents with fatter war chests.

In Scroggs’ case, that’s George Flinn, the radiologist and broadcasting magnate, who is prepared to open his considerable private cash box wide — to the tune of half a million dollars in the primary alone, “or more if the situation requires it,” according to campaign chairman Phil Langsdon. Much of that would presumably be used for newspaper and broadcast advertising — the “air war,” as it is referred to in political-campaign lingo. The Flinn campaign has also hired as campaign manager Ruth Ogles, who ran a respectable race of her own for the Memphis school board in 2000.

· Democratic sheriff’s candidate Randy Wade had some of the heat taken off him by the decision last week of city councilman E.C. Jones to leave the sheriff’s race and file instead for county trustee (against fellow Democrats Charles Jackson and Coleman Thompson for the right to challenge GOP incumbent Bob Patterson).

Wade promptly put some heat on the rest of the sheriff’s candidates — now including Democrats Henry Hooper and Paula Castillo, an unknown, as well as several Republicans and independents — by notifying Sheriff A.C. Gilless in a letter-cum-press release that he would be taking a leave of absence, as of March 15th, from his administrative position in the department.

· Among the notable filings last week for county commission races: Karla Templeton issued one challenge to a Republican incumbent, Linda Rendtorff, in District 1, Position 2, while Templeton’s father, restaurateur John Willingham, was making another, to current chairman Morris Fair, in District 1, Position 3.

Six candidates filed for the now-open seat of outgoing Commissioner Bridget Chisholm in District 2, Position 3. Among Democrats, Deidre Malone has the early jump on Dedrick Fentress, and Green Party activist Scott Banbury is one of several independents.

Former Lakeland mayor Jim Bomprezzi is one of several Republicans (others: newcomers Deandre Forney and Mark E. Hartz) challenging GOP incumbent Tom Moss in District 4, Position 2.

As expected, Democrat Guthrie Castle joined the Democrats seeking the District 5 seat, also sought by veteran pol Joe Cooper and by three other Democrats, Zelda Hill, Mickey Keep, and K. Mortez Washington. Republicans have a three-way race between John Ryder, Bruce Thompson, and Jerry Cobb.

Two Ford-family siblings, interim appointee Joe Ford and sister Ophelia Ford, are vying for the seat formerly held by their late brother, Dr. James Ford, in District 3, Position 3.

Another sibling-vs.-sibling race has generated some controversy. Republican Joyce Avery, who’s hoping to unseat Clair VanderSchaaf in District 4, Position 1, charges that the incumbent and his half-brother, Greg Brannick, who also filed as a Republican in the race, are in cahoots to split the anti-VanderSchaaf vote. “Skullduggery” she called it in a press release on Sunday.

The half-brothers shrugged it off. “We’re not even all that close,” said VanderSchaaf. “I didn’t know he was going to file or why. He didn’t tell me. Maybe he thought I wasn’t going to.” ·

On the Democratic mayoral front, it’s still a three-way struggle between Public Defender A C Wharton, Bartlett banker Harold Byrd, and State Representative Carol Chumney. Wharton’s camp — candidate, entourage, and all — exudes a confidence that could, in the end, be self-limiting.

At the opening of his Poplar Avenue headquarters on Saturday, Wharton exhorted his crowd (several hundred strong, but containing no notable new faces) with thoughts about victory and of “progress” for Shelby County but avoided mention of any issues or other particulars.

As before, the chief plank in Wharton’s platform would seem to be himself — a smooth, likeable, reassuring presence, but one with a rhetoric that so far is skating lightly on the surface of eggs..

During the previous week a member of Wharton’s campaign team fretted abut an “image problem” and confided his fears that the candidate might be taking his African-American base for granted,. He noted the continued courtship of black ministers by opponent Byrd, who indeed scheduled a “Ministers’ Luncheon” as such for this week.

Despite occasional reports from his own camp that he intends some hard-hitting issues-talk, Byrd himself has tended so far to be somewhat unspecific, although at a recent, well-attended women’s luncheon he promised an array of “position papers” and uttered some cautious grace notes about Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton‘s proposals for city/county consolidation.

Chumney, meanwhile, has her endorsements — from the AFL-CIO and from the Women’s Caucus, among others — and is pursuing a strategy of direct advocacy for positions, including those of consolidation and programmed debt-reduction.

On the Republican side, most party cadres are still lined up solidly with State Representative Larry Scroggs, who — along with Chumney — has been freshly empowered by new legislation, signed week before last by Governor Don Sundquist, that eases restrictions on in-session fundraising for members of the General Assembly, who are now allowed to raise money for local races.

Especially considering that the legislature — hung up as always in a budget-plan stalemate — is now in the second week of a three-week hiatus, that should generate some immediate fundraising activity on the part of Scroggs and Chumney, both of whom are facing opponents with fatter war chests.

In Scroggs’ case, that’s George Flinn, the radiologist and broadcasting magnate, who is prepared to open his considerable private cashbox wide — to the tune of half a million dollars in the primary alone, “or more if the situation requires it,” according to campaign chairman Phil Langsdon. Much of that would presumably be used for newspaper and broadcast advertising — the “air war,” as it is referred to in political-campaign lingo. The Flinn campaign has also hired as campaign manager Ruth Ogles, who ran a respectable race of her own for the Memphis school board in 2000.

It’s an old ploy — the idea of one candidate’s putting another in his own race to dilute the “anti”-vote against him or her — and it has either happened again in a hotly contested Shelby County Commission race, or it hasn’t happened at all, depending on who you ask.

If it’s Joyce Avery, who’s hoping to unseat Clair VanderSchaaf in District 4, Position 1, she’ll tell you that the incumbent and his half brother, Greg Brannick, both of whom are on the Republican primary ballot with her, are in cahoots to split the anti-VanderSchaaf vote. “Skulduggery,” she called it in a press release on Sunday.

“’Commissioner Vanderschaaf has a long history of cutting deals that benefit him personally. Placing his brother into this county commission race is just one more act of under-handedness,’” veteran GOP activist Avery is quoted in the release, which continues, “Vanderschaaf’s half-brother, perennial candidate Greg Brannick, filed for the commission seat one day prior to the qualifying deadline for candidates. Days earlier, Brannick moved his voter registration into District 4.”

If it’s Clair VanderSchaaf you ask, he’ll dismiss the accusation out of hand, saying that he and his half-brother (they have the same mother and different fathers, and Commissioner VanderSchaaf is the older by almost two decades) are “not all that close.” He will say further, “I didn’t know he was going to file or why. He didn’t tell me. Maybe he thought I wasn’t going to.”

And if it’s Brannick, a real estate manager who has made two previous races (for state representative and for Bartlett alderman), you’ll get another denial (of sorts): “I think something very similar is going on in the Ford family,” Brannick says first, presumably referring to a race between siblings Joe Ford and Ophelia Ford for the commission seat formerly held by the late Dr. James Ford, their brother. (Joe Ford, a former Memphis city councilman and 1999 candidate for mayor, was appointed to the seat by the commission on an interim basis.)

Brannick goes on to note that he filed at the Election Commission on Wednesday, a day ahead of brother Clair, who filed on Thursday, the deadline for candidacies — a fact which both brothers cite as evidence for the possibility that there was no collusion and no foreknowledge by either that both would be on the ballot.

Both VanderSchaaf and Brannick maintain that they never talked about the race before their respective filings. “We’re not even all that close,” avers VanderSchaaf further, while Brannick talks vaguely of “research” he will perform before deciding whether to stayin or get out by the withdrawal deadline of this Thursday.

Avery is having none of it. Her press release maintains: “He got his brother to file because he doesn’t think he can get 50% of the votes. He’s hoping to split the anti-Vanderschaaf vote between his brother and me so that he can slide back in with a plurality of the votes. I’m working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Avery’s public motive for running against VanderSchaaf (also alluded to in her release) is that he voted for a wheel-tax increase and to fund the soon-to-be-built NBA arena while voting against a measure to fully fund the county schools.

An unexpressed reason — at least for many of her supporters — is that of payback for VanderSchaaf’s siding with the commission’s Democrats year before last in a complex arrangement that saw former commissioner Shep Wilbun move to the post of Juvenile Court clerk while developer Tom Moss was appointed to the commission.

A significant number of local Republicans — and the rest of the Republicans on the commission –wanted to see David Lillard (now a candidate for another seat) on the commission and then deputy clerk Steve Stamson (now a candidate to unseat Wilbun).

All of the above circumstances give the VanderSchaaf/Brannick/Avery race more than ordinary interest.

George Flinn, a radiologist and media magnate who has made a career of bucking various establishments and profiting thereby, is targeting yet another establishment — that of the Shelby County Republican Party — and expects, against all odds, to end up the winner again.

Flinn, who based his thriving medical practice on confronting and challenging the city’s medical establishment, will file a petition this Friday to run in the GOP primary for county mayor.

His action ends a period of back-and-forthing in which Flinn first sought the Republican hierachy’s blessing and was spurned, then considered an independent run, then finally resolved to take on State Representative Larry Scroggs, one of the best-liked and best-respected people in local politics and the candidate who has the unmistakeable stamp of approval from his party’s leadership.

Why would he do such a thing, and how does he think he can get away with it?

His answer to the first question goes like this: “I’ve been a Memphian for over 50 years, and I’v been watching things from the sidelines. It’s really no secret that people don’t think they’re getting their money’s worth from government. Most people don’t hear the voice of leadership in the people who have so far announced for county mayor. That’s why I’m stepping forth.”

And, as a political and governmental neophyte, his answer to the second question goes like this: “I’ve built a successful medical practice and successful radio and tv stations from the ground up. I’ve got the ability to lead and work with people. The fact is, I get into situations all the time where I don’t know the facts to start with, but my medical training has prepared me to locate the root problems, make a diagnosis, and find a solution.”

As for Scroggs, who was the end result of a desperate search by the local Republican hierarchy to find a plausible and politically experienced candidate willing to run this year, Flinn says, “I’ve met Larry Scroggs twice, and I find him likeable and sincere. I’m sure he knows government, especially at the state level, but the fact is, we need some fresh eyes.”

Flinn offered his own eyes — and the rest of his somewhat Mr. Peeperish countenance — to the Republicans last fall when preferred candidates like District Attorney General Bill Gibbons, former city councilman John Bobango, and ex-Memphis Redbirds president Allie Prescott all turned down entreaties to run.

To his dismay, Flinn’s offer of himself was not met with immediate acceptance from local Republican chairman Alan Crone, veteran GOP strategist John Ryder, or any of the other party eminences who were then leading the hunt for a candidate. As a newcomer, he was asked to consider making a race for state representative instead.

Flinn simmered for a while, then went through a period of indecisiveness. Just before the New Year, he filed a petition to run in the Republican primary, thought better of it, withdrew the petition, and began a rethinking of his situation. For a while, he thought he might run as an independent but eventually decided that, to have even a theoretical chance of winning a countywide campaign, he needed the party infrastructure.

Hence, his filing this week. “I believe that a major party is the right vehicle to address the problems of Shelby County,” he says, ‘and I’m a Republican by nature, a believer in getting the most out of government for the least expense. ” He adds, meaningfully, “But you can find the Old Guard in both parties, and I would appeal to Democrats and independents, too.”

Some Republicans may question that ecumenical streak. One of Flinn’s potential handicaps as a Republican candidate is that his son Shea Flinn, now a freshly credentialed lawyer, ran as a Democratic candidate for the legislature only two years ago. “I don’t see that as a problem,” Flinn says. “People understand that different generations see the same things differently.”

A tendency to see things differently manifests itself in every aspect of George Flinn’s career. A medical colleague who supports Scroggs talked last week of how Flinn’s tendency not to “gel” with establishments led him first to start a radiology practice that, in effect, was in direct competition with hospital-based procedures and, later, to become an innovator in the science of ultrasound technology, an area in which he holds several lucrative patents.

His patents and his practice have made Flinn wealthy (enough so to have helped establish the 38 broadcast stations he owns nationwide), and , ironically, he has certain advantages over his more orthodox — and politically better-known — GOP opponent. Flinn, who will hold conventional fundraisers, starts the race with somewhere between $250,000 and half a million of his own money ready to go.

(Rep. Scroggs, who raised $100,000 recently, is prohibited by state law from active fundraising while the legislature is in session. Differing measures to abolish such restrictions have passed both houses of the General Assembly but still await reconciliation in committee. Gamely, Scroggs, a conscientious legislator with committee responsibilities and bills under way, vows to keep a promise to serve through the current spring session.)

Flinn has used his money to engage a high-priced consultant, Tom Pardue of Atlanta, who helped Sen. Bill Frist win his first victory in 1994 against then incumbent Sen. Jim Sasser. Businessman/pol Karl Schledwitz, who has been associated with Democrat Sasser for a quarter century, remembers Pardue bitterly as a “hatchetman,” but Flinn promises to run a “highly positive” campaign.

He’ll have help locally from several out-of-the-loop Republicans — one of whom, Dr. Phil Langsdon, is a former two-term GOP chairman who, moreover, came to power in 1991 as the champion of Republican have-nots versus the haves of that era.

Langsdon, a facial plastic surgeon who disavows any political ambitions of his own (but was known to have been interested in running for Congress if Ed Bryant‘s 8th District seat had opened up this year) will serve as Flinn’s campaign manager and professes excitement at the prospect. “He’s got a fresh outlook and real ability,” says Langsdon. “He’s going to surprise the political hacks who doubt him.”

The Shelby County Republican Party’s eminent Flinn-Scroggs mayoral showdown is but one of several that have churned up in what were, just weeks ago, the untroubled waters of GOP harmony. Incumbent county mayor Jim Rout and, reportedly, other local GOP notables are now outspoken in their support of Republican gubernatorial challenger Jim Henry of Kingston, while a majority of the party’s officials and activists still lean to 4th District congressman Van Hilleary, the presumed frontrunner.

“That isn’t necessary a bad thing,” says chairman Crone. “A contested gubernatorial primary, concurrent with the August general election, will bring out a healthy Republican vote.”

The mayoral contest is a different matter. “We had hoped to organize our whole strategy around that race,” concedes Crone, who makes no secret of the fact that he would have been delighted with an uncontested primary. Crone shrugs at what has now become inevitable, however, promises neutrality, and is actively in search of silver linings.

Of radiologist George Flinn‘s surprise candidacy, he says, “I’m hoping George barings some new people in and helps us expand the grass-roots base of our party. He’ll certainly help to generate some interest.”

Crone professes to be untroubled as well about another recent development, the decision by party eminence John Ryder, a stage-manager presence whom some had expected to head up Scroggs’ campaign, to become a candidate in what is now a three-way primary race for the pivotal 5th District Shelby County Commission seat.

Though Ryder has to be counted the favorite, the other two contenders, financial manager Bruce Thompson and contractor Jerry Cobb, aren’t going anywhere. Thompson says he has $50,000 to spend on his race and will probably have as much later on, while Cobb can count on the suppot of a reliable network of fellow Republican dissidents.

Moreover, the Scroggs campaign and the contywide Republican effort in general will suffer — at least until the end of the primary period in early May — from the mere fact that old pro Ryder will be wholly involved in his own electoral effort.

The bottom line: in the suddenly roiling sea of Shelby County Republicanism, it’s sink or swim.

The Shelby County Republican Party’s eminent Flinn-Scroggs mayoral showdown is but one of several that have churned up in what were, just weeks ago, the untroubled waters of GOP harmony. Incumbent county mayor Jim Rout and, reportedly, other local GOP notables are now outspoken in their support of Republican gubernatorial challenger Jim Henry of Kingston, while a majority of the party’s officials and activists still lean to 4th District congressman Van Hilleary, the presumed frontrunner.

“That isn’t necessary a bad thing,” says chairman Crone. “A contested gubernatorial primary, concurrent with the August general election, will bring out a healthy Republican vote.”

The mayoral contest is a different matter. “We had hoped to organize our whole strategy around that race,” concedes Crone, who makes no secret of the fact that he would have been delighted with an uncontested primary. Crone shrugs at what has now become inevitable, however, promises neutrality, and is actively in search of silver linings.

Of radiologist George Flinn‘s surprise candidacy, he says, “I’m hoping George barings some new people in and helps us expand the grass-roots base of our party. He’ll certainly help to generate some interest.”

Crone professes to be untroubled as well about another recent development, the decision by party eminence John Ryder, a stage-manager presence whom some had expected to head up Scroggs’ campaign, to become a candidate in what is now a three-way primary race for the pivotal 5th District Shelby County Commission seat.

Though Ryder has to be counted the favorite, the other two contenders, financial manager Bruce Thompson and contractor Jerry Cobb, aren’t going anywhere. Thompson says he has $50,000 to spend on his race and will probably have as much later on, while Cobb can count on the suppot of a reliable network of fellow Republican dissidents.

Moreover, the Scroggs campaign and the contywide Republican effort in general will suffer — at least until the end of the primary period in early May — from the mere fact that old pro Ryder will be wholly involved in his own electoral effort.

The bottom line: in the suddenly roiling sea of Shelby County Republicanism, it’s sink or swim.

The Shelby County Republican Party’s eminent Flinn-Scroggs mayoral showdown is but one of several that have churned up in what were, just weeks ago, the untroubled waters of GOP harmony. Incumbent county mayor Jim Rout and, reportedly, other local GOP notables are now outspoken in their support of Republican gubernatorial challenger Jim Henry of Kingston, while a majority of the party’s officials and activists still lean to 4th District congressman Van Hilleary, the presumed frontrunner.

“That isn’t necessary a bad thing,” says chairman Crone. “A contested gubernatorial primary, concurrent with the August general election, will bring out a healthy Republican vote.”

The mayoral contest is a different matter. “We had hoped to organize our whole strategy around that race,” concedes Crone, who makes no secret of the fact that he would have been delighted with an uncontested primary. Crone shrugs at what has now become inevitable, however, promises neutrality, and is actively in search of silver linings.

Of radiologist George Flinn‘s surprise candidacy, he says, “I’m hoping George barings some new people in and helps us expand the grass-roots base of our party. He’ll certainly help to generate some interest.”

Crone professes to be untroubled as well about another recent development, the decision by party eminence John Ryder, a stage-manager presence whom some had expected to head up Scroggs’ campaign, to become a candidate in what is now a three-way primary race for the pivotal 5th District Shelby County Commission seat.

Though Ryder has to be counted the favorite, the other two contenders, financial manager Bruce Thompson and contractor Jerry Cobb, aren’t going anywhere. Thompson says he has $50,000 to spend on his race and will probably have as much later on, while Cobb can count on the suppot of a reliable network of fellow Republican dissidents.

Moreover, the Scroggs campaign and the contywide Republican effort in general will suffer — at least until the end of the primary period in early May — from the mere fact that old pro Ryder will be wholly involved in his own electoral effort.

The bottom line: in the suddenly roiling sea of Shelby County Republicanism, it’s sink or swim.