2023 mayoral elections – Memphis Flyer

We have reached a point in the mayoral contest that, if not yet the stretch drive itself, is about to get there.

The candidates with money are beginning to spend it on TV ads (Floyd Bonner, Paul Young, Van Turner, and J.W. Gibson all had fresh spots running last week) and yard signs (certain well-traveled thruways — think South Parkway and Walnut Grove, as two examples — are sprouting them like mushrooms). And, be advised, slickly printed mail-outs, in which the aspirants view themselves with pride and unlucky opponents with alarm, will soon be filling up your mailbox.

They’ve already gotten busy doing what, in athletic contexts, is called trash-talking. They’ve all done their calculations and have determined who among their adversaries can safely be ignored and who needs to be cut down to size.

Examples: Two weeks ago, when businessman Gibson opened his campaign headquarters, he not only boasted his own native-son credentials but was the beneficiary of a question voiced out loud by a key supporter, Reverend LaSimba Gray: “Mr. Gibson, you didn’t have to move to Memphis to run for mayor, did you?”

Gibson himself may or may not have been in on that one, but he certainly beamed to hear it said. The jibe was clearly aimed at two Gibson opponents, Bonner and Turner, both recently residents of the outer county, who had to weather a short-lived mandate from the Election Commission which, before being struck down in court, required of mayoral candidates a long-term presence within the city limits.

And on more than one occasion of late, candidate Michelle McKissack has called attention to the matter of what she — and various others — consider an undue number of inmate deaths in the county jail on Sheriff Bonner’s watch. The issue seems likely to keep on bedeviling Bonner, who, coincidentally or not, is widely considered a frontrunner in the race.

Candidate Turner, who until recently headed the local NAACP and is a former Democratic Party chair, has been making the most of his ideological convictions, and, at his weekend headquarters opening, publicly lamented what he saw as the apostasy of fellow Democrats Paul Young, the Downtown Memphis Commission CEO, and Bonner, both high-odds contenders with plenty of late-campaign cash.

“How you vote and what you’ve done in the past makes a difference,” said Turner. “We have one candidate who voted Republican at a time when we needed everybody in this country to support Hillary [Clinton]. Because we did not support Hillary we have a renegade Supreme Court. … I appreciate what Mr. Young has done in the city, but he was wrong on that. You have to be committed to this call and not work the other side and compromise.”

Turner’s reference was to Young’s past decision to vote in three Republican primaries, including the 2016 GOP presidential primary.

And Turner continued: “Another candidate, Mr. Floyd Bonner, has been supported by the Republican Party.” He likely was referencing the 2022 county election when Bonner, the Democratic nominee, was unopposed by the GOP and endorsed by key local Republicans.

The upshot, according to Turner: “We cannot allow this opportunity to take Memphis forward to take us back. We need progressives working for this city and working to make the city better.” “… And working to help me win,” was the unspoken quiet part.

Businessman J.W. Gibson is reportedly getting ready to retool his mayoral campaign with help from veteran political consultant Susan Adler Thorp. Polls indicate that Gibson’s campaign has never really gotten off the ground. Nor has his initial slogan suggesting that Memphis needs a “new tune.”

And the professional respect Gibson enjoys as a result of his long-term philanthropic and developmental activities has not been general enough to have earned him much name recognition with the public. Despite a distinguished and vaguely mayoral appearance, he has also struggled to stand out at the many collective forums and meet-and-greets he has been a presence at.

With just under four months left before election day, Gibson, who has abundant private resources, could still make an impact, but only if he finds a viable message and can popularize it. Almost uniquely in the crowded mayoral field, he has expressed openness to the idea of a possible property tax increase.

• Among observers who are closely following the mayoral race, there is a difference of opinion as to whether there are three main contenders so far — Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Downtown Memphis Commission CEO Paul Young, and NAACP president and former County Commissioner Van Turner — or four —those three, plus former longtime Mayor Willie Herenton.

Everyone acknowledges that Herenton, who has led at least one unofficial poll, has a dependable voting bloc, based on his long mayoral tenure and, especially, his precedent-establishing 1991 victory as the city’s first elected Black chief executive. Some wonder if his budget, expected to be minimal, will allow for a serious stretch run.

Bonner and Young won’t have such worries. Both have cash-on-hand holdings in the vicinity of half a million dollars. And Turner, whose purse at this point is roughly a third of that amount, has a long-established base of dependable supporters.

• As has long been expected, former City Councilman Berlin Boyd has pulled a petition to run for the open Super District 8, Position 3, seat held for the past two terms by Council Chairman Martavius Jones, who is term-limited.

Boyd’s name had also turned up on the petition list for Super District 8, Position 1 — something the once and possibly future councilman attributes to an error by one of his staff members. Boyd says he never had any intention of running against the 8-1 incumbent, JB Smiley, a friend, and he has done the paperwork to nullify that prospect. (He also denies a previously published report that he might take another crack at District 7, currently occupied by Michalyn Easter-Thomas, who in 2019 ousted then-incumbent Boyd in a runoff.)

Boyd has, however, considered the “back-up” idea of running for Super District 8, Position 2, a seat being eyed by several others, who take seriously a rumor that incumbent Cheyenne Johnson will not end up being a candidate for re-election. But, he says, “I’m 99 percent sure I’ll be running for Position 3.” Eight other people have so far pulled petitions for Position 3.

• The aforementioned Smiley is one of four current holders of super district seats who, as of early this week, did not yet have declared opposition. The other fortunate ones were Chase Carlisle in Super District 9, Position 1, Ford Canale in 9-2, and Jeff Warren in 9-3.