Category: Politics Feature

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Politics Politics Feature

Worthy of Note

From l to r: Memphis mayors Jim Strickland, Dick Hackett, Willie Herenton, and AC Wharton (the latter of whom served also as Shelby County mayor), and county mayors Lee Harris, Jim Rout, and Mark Luttrell (Photo: Courtesy Matt Kuhn)

In what would seem to be a season of passings and rememberings, another name was added to the list on Monday — that of Julian Bolton, who died at the age of 75.

Politically, Bolton, a lawyer, had his last hurrah in 2023, when he finished second to Justin J. Pearson in a special election to succeed the late Barbara Cooper in state House of Representatives District 86.

But his lifetime spanned several periods of local history. He served for decades as a member of the Shelby County Commission and would later serve the commission as its legal consultant and advisor.

A Rhodes College graduate with a major in theater, Bolton was known on the commission for his theatrical style and his tenacity in debate. He earned his law degree from the University of Memphis.

The family announced that flowers can be sent to Serenity Funeral Home on Sycamore View Road, which is handling arrangements.

• Preparations are ongoing for a “celebration of life” in honor of FedEx founder Frederick W. Smith, who died recently at the age of 80 and is considered by many to rank high in any list of the city’s greatest citizens.

The event, which will include speakers and musical performances honoring Smith’s legacy and the enormous role he played in Memphis and the world, will be held on Monday, August 11th, Smith’s 81st birthday, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at FedExForum. 

It will be open to the public, but would-be attendees are asked to RSVP via a brief form that can be accessed online by googling “Fred Smith memorial.”

• There was a massive turnout Saturday at First Evangelical Church on Ridge Lake Boulevard for the funeral of another favorite son, former sheriff and county Mayor Bill Morris, who died last month at the age of 92.

Generically, the mourners crossed all boundaries of age, race, and gender, a tribute to Morris’ wide appeal across the more than 60 years of his public presence.

One indication of his importance and influence is manifested by the picture here of the six mayors of either Memphis or Shelby County who graced the scene.

• The recently formed East Memphis Democratic Club has extended an open invitation to its Summer Picnic and Classroom Supply Drive at the Jones Pond Pavilion in Shelby Farms Park. 

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Politics Politics Feature

Morris’ Lost Opportunity

Former Shelby County Mayor William (Bill) N. Morris Jr. (Photo: Morris Family)

As I have indicated, both in print and otherwise, I shared the high regard commanded in his constituency by the late Bill Morris, who died Friday at the age of 92.

In 1994, the Democratic primary race for Tennessee governor featured a spirited contest between Morris, then Shelby County’s mayor, and Nashville Mayor Phil Bredesen.

I covered that race and saw it as an intriguing showdown.

It was no secret that a sibling rivalry, then as now, existed between the cities of Memphis and Nashville — between the onetime home base of Boss Ed Crump, whose strong hand had for decades dominated Tennessee politics in general and state Democratic politics in particular, and the centralized state capital, an increasingly upscale (and perhaps to Memphians, upstart) metropolis.

Ironically, Tennessee’s Democratic officials in 1994 — retiring Governor Ned Ray McWherter, House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, and Senate Speaker/Lt. Governor John Wilder — were all West Tennesseans. 

But the Democratic ideological core, party structure, and financial center were all Nashville-based, and Morris, vis-à-vis every one of those particulars, hailed from elsewhere.  

Whatever the reason, the state’s Democratic establishment had clearly convinced itself that the party’s best bet in the 1994 governor’s race (to oppose another Memphian, Republican Congressman Don Sundquist) was not Morris but Nashville Mayor Bredesen.

Not long after the primary race began in earnest, a bombshell hit. Morris was indicted on a state charge of misconduct for having allegedly enlisted county penal farm inmates to serve at a Morris fundraiser. Not to excuse the offense, if indeed it occurred, but that sort of thing was (a) not the most heinous possible transgression and (b) probably not an unaccustomed practice in local (or state) politics. 

In any case, the charges were dropped weeks later, but the Morris campaign, when it resumed, never regained its lost momentum.

Years later, while I was in Nashville during a legislative session, I was approached by a former state official, who shall go nameless here, who began nervously — shakily, even — insisting to me (who had never even written a word about him) that, widespread rumors notwithstanding, he had not been the one who had sicced the TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation) on Morris’ trail. The upshot was that I was convinced he had been — and for strictly political reasons.

During his period of enforced inactivity before he was cleared, I had suggested to Morris, whom I had always liked and admired, that he might consider resuming his race on the theme that his indictment had somehow been engineered expressly to sabotage his gubernatorial campaign. And that he, like any number of other ordinary Tennesseans, was at the mercy of the powers that be. There had indeed been rumors, and something like that was in fact what I (and others) suspected, years before I had the fateful conversation in Nashville.

I didn’t blame Bredesen, who had expressed his belief in Morris’ innocence, though there was no doubt that the aforesaid ex-official with the apparent guilty conscience had been partial to the Nashville mayor’s campaign.

In due course, Bredesen became the nominee but lost the governor’s race to Sundquist, in one of the first indications that the days of Democratic domination of state politics were numbered. 

Eight years later, Bredesen tried again, won, and served two four-year terms. To this day, he is the last Democrat to have won a major statewide office.

Bill Morris had served with recognized distinction for many years both as sheriff and as county mayor, and he continued to be a civic beacon in his retirement. I have often tried to imagine how his, the state’s, and the Democratic Party’s future might have developed had his gubernatorial campaign not been so egregiously derailed. 

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Politics Politics Feature

Showing the Money

JB Smiley (Photo: JB Smiley I Facebook)

The declared candidates for Shelby County mayor in 2026 have hit their first milestone, the fundraising proceeds for the second quarter of the year and the first opportunity to measure their progress vis-a-vis each other, now that the field seems to be set.

Leading the field by leaps and bounds at this point is Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr., who is showing the same start-up energy that he did in his 2022 Democratic primary race for governor, when he got a quick start only to slow down somewhat in the stretch, having arguably overspent himself early. 

As of the end-of-quarter filing report, Smiley had raised $312,688.33, with itemized contributions of $310,722.98. He had spent $141, 517.15 and had cash on hand of $171,171.18.

Next best is Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery, who had raised $214,077, including a $25,000 loan to himself and itemized contributions of $189,077. He had spent $59,962.46 and had cash on hand in the amount of $154,114.54.

County Assessor Melvin Burgess had raised $90,808 (including a $25,000 loan to himself), with itemized contributions of $65,808. He spent only $3,589.77 this quarter and had cash on hand of $96,499.48 — a sum which includes $9,282.25 left over from the previous quarter. 

County CAO Harold Collins’ report shows that he had raised $72,265, with itemized contributions of $70,420. He had spent $14,285.75 and had cash on hand of $57,975.25.

Businessman/philanthropist J.W. Gibson reported $35,580 raised, the same amount as his itemized contributions. He had spent $8,606.15 and had $28,731.59 cash on hand. The independently wealthy Gibson, it should be noted, is expected to spend freely of his own money as needed to stay competitive.

The latest entry in the field, Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn, reports no money raised as of yet but cash on hand of $43,502. 

• Javier Bailey, who is CAO for Assessor Burgess and now seeks the job of assessor himself, had his campaign announcement, a fundraiser/meet and greet at the Memphian Hotel Monday night.

• President Trump is on a rampage to demand that professional sports teams that formerly had monikers relating to Native Americans rid themselves of the new names and go back to the old ones. He cites specifically the NFL’s Washington Commanders (formerly the Redskins) and MLB’s Cleveland Guardians (formerly the Indians).

In making the name change, the owners of those teams bowed to a prevailing volume of opinion that the former names had racist connotations.

Trump didn’t mention the erstwhile minor-league Memphis Chicks, the local baseball franchise that for decades operated here under a nickname relating to the Chickasaw tribe that once occupied our environs before being usurped by white settlers.

Technically the current Triple-A Memphis Redbirds are a different franchise that came into being after intervening years during which Memphis didn’t have a pro baseball team. In any case, there has been no discernible grassroots movement here to revive the old name, which, in its shorthand version, arguably had sexist connotations along with ethnic ones.

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Politics Politics Feature

Green to Vie for Governor

Green with national Democratic Chairman Ken Martin at last weekend’s state Democratic banquet in Nashville (Photo: Jerri Green | Facebook)

First-term Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green, who has developed a reputation in the council for diligence and ingenuity, is aiming for higher office. She told The Tennessee Journal this week that she intends to “shake things up” as a candidate for governor in 2026.   

Green, a Democrat, told the Journal, “For me, our government at the state level especially, is lacking in compassion and common sense and courage, and I feel like I have to do something, and so I’m planning to challenge Marsha Blackburn in the fall.” 

Though Blackburn, an incumbent U.S. senator and a Republican, hasn’t formally announced for governor yet and, in fact, is apparently still receiving contributions in her Senate campaign fund, she is widely regarded as a sure bet to run for governor, having previously advertised her interest in the prospect. The only formally announced Republican so far is 6th District state Representative John Rose.

“I’ve lived in Knoxville. I’ve lived in Nashville. I live in Memphis,” Green told the Journal. “I don’t know if anybody ever running for governor has done that. I am sure that they are going to try to paint a picture of me as a liberal from a blue city and all of that, but I’m just a mom, a working mom, and I want to change the future because my future is my flesh and blood.”

The emphasis on being a mom is a reminder of a slogan Green used in a 2020 race against incumbent state Representative Mark White. She billed herself then as “One Tough Mother.”

She told the Journal she would support “paid family leave, affordable healthcare, living wages, unions, and environmental protections as well as work to combat gun violence.” 

Green currently serves as deputy chief of staff to Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. She has previously served as executive director of Memphis’ Community Legal Center, as professor at the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, and as a public defender.  

In her council role, she was widely credited with unearthing potential budget sources to pay for pay raises for city employees.

• The state Registry of Election Finance has approved adjustments that clear former Memphis state Representative John DeBerry of lingering potential imbalances in his former legislative campaign account. DeBerry, who served as a Democrat in the legislature, is now a senior adviser in the cabinet of Republican Governor Bill Lee.

Meanwhile, the Registry is working with Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr. as Smiley strives to reduce a $117,500 debt remaining from his unsuccessful 2022 campaign for governor. 

Registry attorney Lauren Topping says Smiley, now an announced candidate for Shelby County Mayor in 2026, has been raising money to pay off his gubernatorial campaign debt.  

Reductions so far include a forgiven debt owed to a company which has since gone out of business and $70,000 owed to a former staffer which the staffer has waived her entitlement to.

The Registry has agreed to keep the matter open as long as Smiley continues to make progress in paying down the debt, but he could face a civil penalty if he doesn’t complete the process before the May 2026 Democratic primary for county mayor.

• Former state Senator and Chancellor Jim Kyle, now retired from his Chancery position because of complications relating to CDIP, a neuropathic disorder, sends regards from the Summit of Germantown, an assisted-living environment and his current domicile.

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Politics Politics Feature

Midsummer Musings

Elon Musk (Photo: Justin Pacheco | Public Domain | Wikimedia Commons)

Does Elon Musk really have time to focus, as he has threatened, in furtherance of his feud with ex-BF Donald Trump, on the creation of a new political party?

Events are moving apace with regard to Musk’s xAI project in Memphis. Even amid increasing environmental concerns locally, an approval last week by the Shelby County Health Department of permits for methane gas generators at the existing Colossus facility, and this week’s scheduled Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce webinar on the whole matter, Musk has accounted for bigger news yet on that front. 

According to various sources, he has confirmed the purchase of an entire power plant overseas, which he intends to ship to Memphis to be located on the additional property he has acquired in Whitehaven. The operation will produce 1 million AI GPUs and up to two gigawatts of power under one roof, enough to power 1.9 million homes.  

As Dylan Patel of the industry organ SemiAnalysis put it, “They just bought a power plant from overseas and are shipping it to the U.S. because they couldn’t get a new one [built] in time. … They’re doing all this crazy shit to get the compute.”

Whatever its other consequences, this new development should certainly ease fears concerning the often lamented potential strain to be exerted on Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) by the xAI project.

But worries over the environment are sure to multiply.

• As noted previously in this space, President Trump had, in the early months of his current presidential term, gone on a firing binge in regard to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board of directors, removing three of its members and depriving the board, whose oversight includes MLGW, of a quorum.

He has since nominated as replacements three new members, including Memphian Mitch Graves, the CEO of West Cancer Center.

Graves has been a political backer of (and important fundraiser for) both former Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, a nominal if inactive Democrat, and 8th District Republican Congressman David Kustoff.

The other new members of the TVA board are Knoxville attorney Jeff Hagood and Alabama insurance agent Randall Jones.

Trump has also re-nominated Mike Dunavant for a new term as U.S. attorney for Tennessee’s Western District. Dunavant served in that capacity during Trump’s first term.

• Vanderbilt University is well-known for its periodic sampling of Tennesseans’ views on political and civic issues. The university’s most recent poll, more national in scope, was released in mid-June under the rubric of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and the American Democracy.

The poll contains this interesting nugget from John Geer, co-director of the poll: “Tracking ‘Republicans’ as a single group of partisans no longer tells a complete story. … There are notable differences in sentiment among MAGA Republicans and traditional Republicans, making it critical to consider this distinction when assessing the public’s thinking.” 

It’s fair to say that the poll, in that sense, confirms what most political observers, including this writer, have increasingly suspected.  

Geer goes on: “On the Democratic side, our efforts to look for differences between wings of the party have found little to no difference.” (It remains to be seen, given such results as that of the recent Democratic primary for New York mayor, which elevated avowed Socialist Zohran Mamdani, if that conclusion holds up.)   

Regarding the GOP, Geer observes further: “Identification with the MAGA movement reached an all-time high (52 percent) after the Inauguration, according to the February 2025 Vanderbilt Poll.” In the new poll, that figure has declined to 44 percent.

That finding would square with a variety of recent polls by other sampling services showing growing discontent with numerous Trump initiatives. 

Clarification: Commissioner Henri Brooks contends that a recent Politics column misrepresented a position of hers concerning the county budget. The column noted that she wanted to use a small sum under discussion to “feed the hungry,” rather than for its pending purpose (in her words) as “funding for the DA and the Public Defender’s Offices.” DA Steve Mulroy, who was also present, clarified that the specific need for the outlay by his office was to implement parity for identical work being done by county and state prosecutors. The commission kept the money in the DA’s column. No offense was meant to Commissioner Brooks.

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Politics Politics Feature

Brother Act

Thom Tillis (Photo: United States Congress | Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons)

The free world, a term which covers a significant portion — varying from time to time in its dimensions — of these United States, has taken note of the bold stand pursued by U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), who this week rebelled against the sheepish instincts of his fellow Republicans in their support of Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”

Declaring that, among other things, the bill would drastically undercut the protections extended to the populations of his and other states with severe cuts in Medicaid funding, Tillis publicly declared his opposition to the bill. Knowing that this would land him on Trump’s burgeoning enemies list and ensure that he would face a primary challenge from a Trump acolyte in his reelection bid next year, Tillis went further and, even before the president called for such a thing, said he wouldn’t be running.

An independent streak apparently runs in the Tillis family. The senator’s brother, Rick Tillis, a Lewisburg jeweler and a political moderate like the senator, was for two terms a Republican state representative from District 92 in the Tennessee legislature and ascended to the office of majority whip. But he had difficulty suppressing his sense of anguish at the authoritarian instincts evinced by Glen Casada, the GOP’s house speaker in the 2019 legislative term.

Representative Tillis began operating an anonymous Twitter account entitled “The C.H.B. Blog” (for “Cordell Hull Building Blog”), which mercilessly satirized the speaker’s repressive tactics, including Casada’s clandestine snooping measures against the chamber’s members.

So heavy-handed was Casada’s regime that he was ousted as speaker by his fellow Republicans in the immediate aftermath of that 2019 session, and Tillis’ Twitter barbs had been instrumental in that outcome.

There was payback. A pool of urine was subsequently discovered in one of Tillis’ office chairs, and it was alleged, but never proved, that the donor had been a Casada loyalist.

And Representative Tillis was defeated for reelection in 2020, thanks largely to unusually well-funded support for his primary opponent, largely channeled via a mystery consulting firm called Phoenix Solutions.

In a recent postscript of sorts to the affair, Casada and various others were recently convicted of illegal activities related to the firm, where the former speaker had been a silent partner.

It remains to be seen what degrees of vengeance might end up being leveled at Thom Tillis for his act of apostasy toward Donald Trump, especially since the senator is no longer a candidate for reelection. But the president has long since demonstrated that he is without peer in his zeal for exacting retribution.

Like his brother in Tennessee, however, the senator from North Carolina is clearly unafraid of bullies. It would seem to be a family thing.

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Politics Politics Feature

Doing the Numbers

Commissioners Edmund Ford Jr.and Mick Wright during budget debate (Photo: Shelby County)

As I look forward to the Shelby County elections of 2026 and to the intense competitions that will develop for them, I can’t help wondering if all the would-be members of the Shelby County Commission, say, have even a remote idea of the skills that will be required of them.

Math skills, for example. Rare is the undergraduate who sees his confrontations with the world of numbers in this or that college course, basic or advanced, anything other than a curricular matter that he or she has to safely get through in order to graduate — never again to have to deal with in the real world.

But they will, they will. The men and women who sought membership on the city council or the county commission, hoping to represent the interests of this group or that class or to raise up the prospects of some noble idea for improving society or maybe just to advance themselves in the world, will discover that to do any of those things, they have to crunch numbers.

So hath it been the last few weeks for the 13 members of the current county commission, and progressively so as they neared the July 1st deadline for the 2026 fiscal year.

In an eight-hour session on Monday, climaxing just before midnight, the commissioners added and divided and fractionated numbers many times over, as they tried to arrive at mutually acceptable dividends that would both accomplish their personal and social goals and stay within the parameters of available financial resources.

Partisans of the zoo, for example, would find themselves vying with advocates for mental health, say, or the county’s embryonically developing crime lab, or the multi-tiered desiderata of a “moral budget” proffered by various petitioners to the commission on behalf of underserved local populations.

More so than might have been expected, compromises were arrived at by the commissioners allowing all of the various claimants some share of the limited bounty available.

Then these compromises would be done and redone, shuffled and reshuffled in accordance with the crests and redirections of an ever-shifting debate.

Passions were aroused, as when Commissioner Henri Brooks, fighting over a suddenly available sum of $124,000, urged unsuccessfully that it be used to “feed hungry children” rather than to help establish pay parity for county prosecutors.

Ultimately the commissioners had to confront the bottom line, a property tax rate for the county.

Mick Wright, a member of the commission’s Republican minority, proposed a rate of $2.69, a figure that would align the county with a state-supported rate designed to maintain the county’s current level of expenditures and avoid a tax increase.

Democrat Charlie Caswell Jr., determined to advance the social goals of the moral budget group and others, proposed a rate of $2.74.

And for the next two hours commissioners went back and forth with various rate variations to achieve a variety of different policy outcomes — all of which rate variations failed to achieve simple majorities, much less the two-thirds vote needed to pass. 

In the end, the commissioners were assisted somewhat by advice from Mayor Lee Harris, who suggested two possibilities — the originally preferred $2.69 rate or one of $2.73, with the increment dedicated to a fund for universal pre-K. (This last had been an idea put forth by Commission Chair Michael Whaley.)

The $2.69 figure, cycling the rate debate all the way back to Wright’s first proposal, was adopted. The hard circle was squared, and Shelby County had a budget. 

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Politics Politics Feature

‘Ready to Rumble’?

Firefighters ask for a previously agreed-upon pay raise. (Photo: Snider & Horner, PLLC | Facebook)

As the calendar makes perfectly clear, July 1st, the beginning of fiscal year 2026, is just around the corner, and the budgets of neither the city of Memphis nor Shelby County are in final form to everyone’s satisfaction.

The city’s situation is complicated by successive acts of compromise by Mayor Paul Young and the city council which may have made figures add up technically but may be in conflict with the city’s existing financial obligations.

The matter became public via a statement from the law firm of Snider & Horner characterizing the Memphis Fire Fighters Association Local 1784, which the firm represents, as being “very disturbed” by “what appears to be a blatant breach” of the city’s standing agreement with the union.  

The issue has to do with a formal compact achieved a year ago between the city and the firefighters granting a 5 percent pay increase for both fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026.

The problem is that the budget approved last week by the council authorizes an across-the-board pay raise in fiscal 2026 for all city employees amounting to only 3 percent. And this budget seemingly ignores the prior carryover raise of 5 percent for the firefighters.

Says the law firm: “The pay rise for Memphis firefighters was expressly agreed to in writing … and literally signed off on by the mayor, chief operating officer, chief human resources officer, and city attorney. … If the city is blatantly ignoring what they agreed to do in writing for its firefighters how can these firefighters — or the citizens of Memphis — trust them?”

The statement goes on to threaten a lawsuit: “We will be expecting the city to get this corrected before the deadline of July 1 … [to] do the right thing, honor their written commitments so that legal options will not have to be explored. … We’re ready to rumble.”

To underscore its dissatisfaction, Snider & Horner posted on its Facebook page a mocked-up version of the firefighters’ logo (see image).

For its part, the county government is still very much in the bargaining process, with compromises yet to be reached. The county commission scheduled two emergency meetings this week — one on Monday to work on outlays of concern to the sheriff’s department, another on Wednesday to examine a variety of other projects and amendments competing for fiscal attention.

Meanwhile, controversy continues as to whether County Mayor Lee Harris’ proffered tax rate of $2.73 is in conformity with the state’s established base tax rate of $2.69.

The state rate is set at a level meant to ensure that the amount of revenue raised will not exceed the amount that would have been generated under the current tax rate of $3.39, which was set prior to the most recent county reappraisal. This is the so-called “windfall rule.” 

Critics of Harris’ tax rate say it amounts to a 4 percent property tax increase. Harris insists otherwise.

• Meanwhile, the ranks of contenders for the office of Shelby County mayor in 2026 got one more formal entry last week — the long expected one of Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn.

There is no surprise in the fact of Kuhn’s announcement, although the manner of it — specifically, the optics — have occasioned some bafflement in the political community.

The announcement by Kuhn, a sometime professional model, juxtaposes a brightly lit version of her facial image against a deeply dark background symbolizing the gloom of what she designates, without specifics, as the county’s ongoing “crisis” and promises “hope with Heidi.”

Gotta say, that one is different. 

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Politics Politics Feature

Storm-Chased

Paul Young (Photo: Paul Young | Facebook)

The one thing we know for sure about this year’s Pride celebration is that the weather was not kind to it.

There is no question that the thunder and lightning and torrential downpour of early Saturday morning did not augur well for the 2025 parade and festival, scheduled for later that day.

That was one cruel joke played by the elements. A second cruel joke was the rapid and virtually complete clearing of the skies by late morning, by which time, however, the day’s events had been canceled.

A statement from Mid-South Pride, the sponsoring organization, announcing the cancellation, put things this way: “In the hours leading up to the event, we were in continuous contact with emergency management officials and other city departments. … Combined with 50 mph wind gusts, flooding, and unstable conditions for temporary staging and infrastructure, the decision was no longer ours to make — it became a public safety directive.”

The statement attempted to be reassuring, promising that “the celebration will be rescheduled.” Late Monday evening, a press release announced the event would now take place June 21st. 

And in the meantime, another kind of foul weather — the metaphorical kind, represented by gossip and social media — had rained on the parade, which has become an annual fixture of the Memphis timeline.

Word was getting around that the office of Mayor Paul Young was to blame for having called things off.

Renee Parker Sekander, the office’s liaison for the event, put out her own statement, which said in part: “Today, I had to make the tough decision to halt our participation in today’s Pride Parade for those city employees who chose to participate.” The weather forecast, she said, had posed “a serious safety risk to our staff, our residents, and our mayor —who was genuinely excited to march alongside our community.” She maintained that “the city did not cancel Pride. The mayor did not cancel Pride.”

A thought: The administration of Mayor Paul Young seems intent on acquiring an evermore self-scapegoating status.

And on that point, Young is becoming a magnet for intensifying community concerns regarding the xAI project.

The mayor is very much in the crosshairs of a significant environmental protest led by the irrepressible state Senator Justin J. Pearson, who held a press conference on the subject of xAI on Monday in conjunction with various NAACP chapters in Tennessee and Mississippi.

Pearson et al want local political leaders, including both Young and his county mayor counterpart Lee Harris, to join with the Environmental Protection Agency in blocking xAI’s current and future applications to operate methane gas turbines at the Shelby County industrial sites where it is now operating.

Harris’ position toward the xAI project, brought here by mega-entrepreneur Elon Musk, might best be described as cautiously ambivalent, whereas Young has declared forthrightly his hope of “exploiting” Musk’s Colossus project in the interests of Memphis’ tax base and the area’s economic future.

Pearson’s response to that has been that “the paltry money xAI has dangled in front of our short-sighted leaders is not worth the cost of breathing dirty, and in some cases, deadly air.”

As for Young’s goal of “exploiting” xAI for Memphis’ benefit, Pearson regards the idea as “ignorant,” suggesting instead that “you can’t exploit the exploiter” and that “Mayor Young should know better.” 

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Politics Politics Feature

Shelby Dems Reorganize

New SCDP chair Willie Simon (Photo: Jackson Baker)

On its second try this year, the Shelby County Democratic Party (SCDP) — newly reconstituted by the Tennessee Democratic Party after an abortive effort in March — managed to elect new leadership on Saturday at the Teaching and Learning Academy on Union Avenue.

The main contestants were the same as had been the case two months earlier — Willie Simon, the ultimate winner, and Jeff Etheridge. That prior occasion had broken down amid tumult and shouting, ostensibly regarding disagreement over bylaws up for adoption by the local party.

In the aftermath, the state Democratic organization revoked the local party charter, a circumstance that had also occurred in 2016. Then as now, existing internal divisions loomed larger than any technical circumstance.

As a reminder — inadvertent, perhaps — of the local party’s stormy history, one of the welcoming messages flashed on a large screen to the more than 300 participating delegates on Saturday was this somewhat cryptic one: “Any conduct unbecoming a Democrat is subject to removal.”

Presiding over things, in lieu of state party chair Rachel Campbell of Chattanooga, was former state party chair Hendrell Remus of Memphis and Nashville, who cautioned, “We don’t want any Republicans sneaking in here.”

Among the party luminaries on hand for the event — some voting, some not — were Shelby County CAO Harold Collins and businessman/entrepreneur J.W. Gibson, both declared candidates for county mayor in 2026; assessor candidate Jay Bailey; Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen; DA Steve Mulroy; and numerous city council members, county commissioners, and state legislators.

After prolonged delays, the convention got down to order, and three candidates were nominated — Simon, the erstwhile acting chairman of the local party before its most recent revocation; Etheridge, president of the Germantown Democratic Club; and one Michael O. Harris. (The latter’s nomination occasioned some confusion inasmuch as a recent local chair had been the similarly named Michael L. Harris.)

After one round of voting from attendees grouped according to the 13 County Commission districts, the balloting went: Simon, 136; Etheridge, 130; and Harris, 33.

Harris was dropped for a second round, which went: Simon,149; Etheridge, 139.

It remains to be seen whether Simon can unify the local party. One measure of the difficulty of that task is the fact that, as in the last prior completed vote for a party chair, in 2023, the votes were split almost 50-50.  

Whether coincidental or not, the contest this year had similarly involved a white candidate, Etheridge, with support in the suburbs, and a Black candidate, Simon, whose base was the inner city.

African Americans were overwhelmingly in the majority of those taking part on Saturday, as they are in Shelby County Democratic primary voting, generally.

It would follow, then, from the closeness of the vote on Saturday, that racial affinity was but one factor, among several, weighing on the outcome.

Other officers elected Saturday were: Will Richardson, first vice chair; Ruby Powell-Dennis, second vice chair; Telisa Franklin, recording secretary; and Charity Bianca, corresponding secretary.