David Cocke – Memphis Flyer

State Democratic chair Mary Mancini was on hand Saturday to re-christen a new SCDP to replace the old ‘dysfunctional’ one she decertified a year ago.

Several hundred Democrats gathered in (and filled) a cavernous meeting space in the even more cavernous Missisissippi Boulevard Christian Church on Saturday to elect members of the newly revived Shelby County Democratic Party.

Given that the last group that went by that name numbered only in the scores and was split into irreconcilable squabbling JB

Ex-Nashville Mayor Karl Dean (here chatting with process co-host David Cocke) was there….

factions, there would seem to be ample room for optimism by party members, especially since a significant number of the attendees on Saturday for Part One of a convention process were bona fide new faces.

One old face was conspicuously missing —- that of Del Gill, a long-term party member who had been a principal in Democratic Party wars as far back as the ‘80s. Gill was known either as a stickler for the rules or as an obstructionist pedant, depending on one’s point of view. The latter attitude may have predominated on Saturday, to judge by the reactions of other party veterans asked on Saturday about Gill’s absence.

Few of them were shedding tears over his widely reported refusal to involve himself in a local party whose decertification (on grounds of dysfunction) was declared in August 2016 by state Democratic chair Mary Mancini and whose rebirth was substantially midwifed by the selfsame Mancini, who was on hand Saturday to cheer on and effectively re-christen the new version of the SCDP.

Gill was not alone in having taken umbrage at what several JB

…So was House Democratic Leadert Craig Fitzhuigh, like Dean a gubernatorial hopeful.

former SCDP executive-committee members saw as Mancini’s having dictated a setllement to resolve former local chairman Bryan Carson’s questionable accounting of missing party funds. Rick Maynard, a Gill ally in that stand-off, was also unreconciled and said so to numerous bystanders during his brief early attendance at Saturday’s convention.

But most of the other former members who thought Carson had been let off easy or who had other grudges had sucked it up and participated in Saturday’s convention one way or another. There was, all things considered, a general sense of harmony to the event, the end point to a series of countywide reorganizational forums presided over by ad hoc co-chairs David Cocke and Clarissa Shaw, with considerable input as well from Danielle Inez, the Young Democrats’ new local chair.

Among the onlookers Saturday were several distinguished party figures with a vested interest in a newly revived, aggressive, and well-functioning local party. Two — former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and current state House Democratic Leader Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley — are probable opponents in the forthcoming 2018 Democratic primary for Governor, with Dean having already announced.

Another dignitary was 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen, the ranking Democratic Party figure in Shelby County, who hailed the reborn local party in a brief but spirited address.

After the speeches, attendees to Saturday’s convention broke off into 13 caucus groups, each corresponding to one of Shelby County’s established County Commission districts. They proceeded to elect 150 members to a new Democratic Grass-Roots Council, which will meet on a quarterly basis to discuss issues and policy and to generate momentum. Two members — one female and one male from each district caucus — were then elected from the larger groups to form a new party executive committee, which, like the old executive committee, will hold monthly meetings and formally execute party business.

All the elected members will gather again on August 5 at a traditional party venue, the IBEW meeting hall on Madison, to elect a new party chair. Several aspirants to that position were nominated from the floor on Saturday, but more nominations can be made as late as August 5, from the floor of the IBEW meeting itself.

(More details to come both here and in this week’s “Politics” column in the print edition of the Flyer.)
JB

Caucus participants in District 6 vote their choices.

LIST OF NEWLY ELECTED MEMBERS TO SHELBY COUNTY DEMOCRATIC ‘GRASS ROOTS’ COUNCIL, WITH MEMBERS OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE LISTED IN BOLD:

As of the 4th of July weekend, there was no significant change in the prospective lineup for next year’s race for governor to succeed the term-limited Republican incumbent Bill Haslam.

The two definite Republican entries — former state Economic Development Commissioner Randy Boyd and Nashville businessman Bill Lee — are still the only formally declared candidates on the Republican side. Fourth District U.S. Representative Diane Black, state House Speaker Beth Harwell, and State Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville are still the main GOP figures on the maybe list. (Norris also remains one of the serious maybes to fill a vacant federal judgeship.)

Former Nashville mayor Karl Dean is the only Democrat to have made a 2018 governor’s race official, but state House Democratic Leader Craig Fitzhugh of Ripley is considered a likely candidate, as well.

All that is same-old, same-old. Where there is renewed speculation on the statewide political scene is in regard to the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Bob Corker. The Senator is chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and is also an important and active member of the Senate’s Banking and Budget committees.

Since his election in 2006 in a close race with Democratic nominee Harold Ford Jr., Corker has steadily become one of the more prominent GOP voices in Congress. In 2016, he was seriously considered by then-candidate Donald Trump as a possible vice-presidential running mate. And there have been off-and-on rumors that Corker wants to run for president at some point.

It has long been assumed, and still is, that Corker will be a candidate for reelection to his Senate seat, which comes due again in 2018. But other scenarios have been floated — including a possible Corker race for governor in tandem with a Haslam race for the Senate seat that would then be open.

Whatever the case, other candidates are eyeing a race for Corker’s seat next year. At least one Democrat, Nashville lawyer and Iraq war vet James Mackler is already running and has sent out an elaborate mailer statewide boosting his candidacy.

And there are also Republicans who are looking covetously at Corker’s Senate seat — especially on the GOP’s right wing and in its Tea Party constituency, where Corker’s oft-professed readiness to work across the aisle with Democrats on various issues has aroused suspicion.

The senator may also have raised hackles on the Republican right with recent statements expressing concern over actions by Trump, such as the Senator’s statement, in the wake of his firing FBI Director James Comey in May, that the president seemed to be on a “downward spiral.”

More recently, Corker has vowed to block arms sales by the administration to member nations of the Middle Eastern Gulf Cooperation Council, including feuding U.S. allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

UPDATE: Senator Corker’s office has forwarded this comment on the Senator’s proposed block on the arms sale:

Just wanted to note that the senator spoke with Secretary Tillerson in advance of sending the letter regarding future arms sales and that his goal is to give the administration leverage as it works to resolve the dispute.
The White House press secretary also made positive comments about the senator’s efforts, noting the administration shares his goals…

:

White House response:

Q: Senator Corker says he will use his authority as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to block the sales to Saudi and Qatar until that crisis is resolved. Is that a constructive step in your view?

Sean Spicer: I think we share Senator Corker’s goal on two fronts. One, obviously we want to resolve the situation. I know that the states that are involved are viewing this as a family matter and Secretary Tillerson is helping to facilitate some of the that. We believe that is positive. We share that concern. We also share the concern about terror financing that Senator Corker has, and I think we can work together on both those goals.

Seventh District Congressman Marsha Blackburn is said to have considered a Senate race, and other names mentioned as possible Republican opponents for Corker include Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, State House Representative Andy Holt, and Americans for Prosperity Tennessee state director Andrew Ogles.

Another possible GOP challenger is Mark Green, the state senator from Clarksville who was recently nominated by President Trump to become Secretary of the Army but had to withdraw from consideration amid objections to his ultra-conservative social views from Democrats and moderate Republicans.

Previous to that, Green had been considered a prominent prospect to run for governor, but he has since said no to resuming that quest. A brand-new website boosting his possible candidacy for the U.S. Senate has appeared under the auspices of Nashville activist Rick Williams, however, and it is known that Green has ambitions to serve on the federal scene.

• Shelby County Democrats, whose squabbling and ineffective local party organization was decertified as dysfunctional by state party chair Mary Mancini two years ago, are about to rise again.

David Cocke and Carlissa Shaw presiding, bylaws will be adopted and representatives will be elected to serve on two distinct local bodies — a county committee and a new group to be called the Democratic Grassroots Council.

The county committee will function as the party’s executive arm, while the new council will deliberate on policy, discuss possible projects, and in general serve as a sounding board for party objectives.

• No rest for the weary department: The Shelby County Commission, having punted on approval of a budget at its June 26th meeting and thereby having missed the traditional July 1st deadline beginning the new fiscal year, was scheduled for another try at resolving differences during committee meetings this Wednesday.