Despite a widespread sense that the mayoral race would come down to — and past — the wire, it didn’t take long Thursday night for a winner to emerge. It’s Paul Young, the Downtown Memphis Commission CEO in his first first electoral effort.
Young’s lead was convincing early on to his major competitors — two of whom, Sheriff Floyd Bonner and former Mayor Willie Herenton, made early concession statements, Bonner at 9:15 and Herenton at 9:45. Former County Commissioner Van Turner was certain to follow in short order.
When it was his own time to speak, not long before the local TV channels’ 10 o’clock news, Young addressed his supporters at his Minglewood Hall election-night party, saying, “Our community needs leadership. And it’s time for the next generation to take us into a new way. We acknowledge the challenges that we see, but I’m optimistic. I believe in our city. I believe and I believe in every one of you. We want a future that we’ve never seen. And that’s what we’re going to do together.”
Young reminisced about conversations he had with his father, the late Bishop William Young, when he made his announcement for mayor a year ago. “And he was asking me if was I going to run, and I was like, I don’t know. Because I know the weight of the job. I know what it means to be in that seat. And I just don’t know if we’re ready for that. And Bishop Young in all of his wisdom, said, I hear you.”
Young’s victory was no doubt clinched already in the early-voting that ended last Saturday. The election-day voting total, in the neighborhood of 20,000, was dismal — in large part due to an all-day drizzle.
It quickly became apparent that, given the inevitable distribution of votes over a 17-candidate spread, election-day voting would not be enough to provide an extra boost to any candidate hoping to rise above his early-vote showing.
Irrelevant, finally, were advance indications that a perceived tilt toward older voters during early voting might help the likes of Bonner and Herenton and blunt the momentum of Young and his youth movement.
Instead, Young demonstrated that his appeal was fairly universal, more so than any other candidate. It was Bonner’s quick read of the early numbers that convinced him to concede as early as he did, though that was a decision that buffaloed more than one set of TV analysts.
Final totals for the top tier in the Mayor’s race were 24.408 for Young, 19,895 for Bonner, 18,990 for Herenton and 18,778 for Turner. A large second tier of candidates finished well out of the running. Businessman J.W Gibson netted 2,175, and Michelle McKissack had 1,437. Seven other candidates would trail even more distantly.
In city council races there were few surprises
District 1: Incumbent Rhonda Logan was an easy winner, with 6,122 votes as against opponent Kymberley Kelley’s 1,961.
District 2: As expected, former Councilman Scott McCormick is destined for a runoff with opponent Jerry Green, who serves as policy advisor to County Mayor Lee Harris. McCormick’s vote total was5,492; Green’s, 3,755.
District 3: Activist Pearl Walker, with 2,645 votes, finds herself in a runoff with James Kirkwood, a former ranking MPD officer, who had 2,307 votes.
District 4: Incumbent Jana Swearengen-Washington, with 7,866 votes, easily dispatched former interim councilwoman Teri Dockery, with 2,906.
District 5: The outcome here was a bit surprising, in that former councilman Philip Spinosa and activist Meggan Wurzburg Kiel were thought to be running neck-and-neck. Spinosa wins by 8,860 votes to her 6,936.
District 6: Incumbent Edmond Ford Jr won easily, with 10,138 votes over several challengers.
District 7: Incumbent Michalyn Easter-Thomas, perhaps impeded by allegations that her employment by Memphis River Parks Partnership, a city-affiliated group, was a conflict of interest, led her race with 3,936 votes But she did not command a majority and will be in a runoff with her closest contender, Jimmy Hassan, who had 1,471 votes.
The at-large races in Super Districts 8 and 9 did not allow for a runoff.
District 8-1 was won by the unopposed incumbent, JB Smiley, with 33,607 votes
Districty 8-2 saw Janika White, with 26,304, outdistance three other contenders.
District 8-3 saw Yolanda Cooper-Sutton with 9,407 votes over her nearest competitor Brian Harris, who had 7,601 votes, and Jerred Price who had 6,944.
District 9-1 saw incumbent Chase Carlisle with 29,091 votes, turn away challenger Benji Smith, who had 13,155.
In District 9-2, incumbent Ford Canale, with 26 719 votes, defeated Brandon Washingtonl, with 16, 127.
Incumbent Jeff Warren, unopposed, had 36,538 vote3s in District 9-3.
