Politics is like any professional sport you could name in that new rosters, new seasons, and new players are undergoing formation and preparation even as current contests are grinding to a conclusion.
To be specific, there is a ferment of activity in Shelby County right now, aimed at the elections of 2026. Two positions in particular already have potential candidates looking at them seriously and making plans.
The positions are those for Shelby County mayor, where current Mayor Lee Harris will be completing his term-limited time in office, and the 9th District congressional seat, held against all comers by incumbent Democrat Steve Cohen since his election there in 2006.
County mayor: At least six Democrats are looking seriously at the idea of seeking what will be an open seat. (Note: There may well be Republicans eyeing it as well, but, the county’s demographic imbalance being what it is, the GOP is as fundamentally handicapped in seeking local office as Democrats are in attempting to crack the Republican supermajority statewide.)
Melvin Burgess, the current assessor, is known to be contemplating a run for county mayor. He’s been thinking out loud about it since his time serving on the county commission from 2010 to 2018.
His experience in office and genial personality, coupled with the lingering resonance with voters of his father, Melvin Burgess Sr., an erstwhile police chief, give him a leg up.
Harold Collins, the current CAO for Shelby County Government and former city councilman and candidate for city mayor, has acknowledged the likelihood of a race for county mayor and is all but announced.
J.W. Gibson, the mega-developer and former county commissioner who ran for Memphis mayor last year, is holding meet-and-greets with an eye toward a county mayor’s race.
JB Smiley Jr., the erstwhile gubernatorial hopeful now serving as chair of the Memphis City Council, is being somewhat coy about it but has convinced friends he’ll seek the county mayor’s job as a logical stepping-stone from his present power position.
Mickell Lowery is the son of Myron Lowery, a former well-known local city councilman who served a temporary term as Memphis mayor. Having successfully acquitted a term as county commission chair, the younger Lowery is considered ripe for advancement.
Heidi Kuhn, the current Criminal Court clerk, is known to be actively preparing a race for county mayor, one based both on her activist conduct of her present job and her highly saleable personal qualities.
• The outlook for the 9th District congressional seat is somewhat different, in that the seat won’t be open unless the present long-term incumbent, Democrat Steve Cohen, chooses to vacate it.
There is no current indication that Cohen is so minded, and his record of responsiveness to this majority-Black district, along with his unbroken string of successes against a string of name challengers make a direct challenge to Cohen almost prohibitively difficult.
Yet potential candidates are in the wings. Most obvious is current County Mayor Harris, whose prior legislative service on the city council and in the state Senate, where he was Democratic leader, whetted his appetite for such a job. His credentials have meanwhile been enhanced by strong service as an activist mayor.
Another prospect is District 86 state Representative Justin J. Pearson, whose strong activism and oratorical prowess, freshly demonstrated at the just concluded DNC, suit him for a rise in the political ranks.
And yet another prospect, if an open race should develop, is state Senator Raumesh Akbari, unique as a Democratic legislator who enjoys wide respect across political lines and has something of a national reputation as well.
