Ripple in still water When there is no pebble tossed Nor wind to blow … — Robert Hunter
“I’m like Roger Stone, only nice.”
I awoke from a dream the other night in which I’d just uttered these words. To whom, I don’t know, nor do I know the context — just that I’d said to someone that I was like political sleazeball Roger Stone. Only nice.
I can only credit this to the political brain fog in which I’d spent most of my waking hours over the preceding couple of weeks. I watched CNN, MSNBC, and Fox on rotation each night. I relentlessly doom-scrolled my Twitter politics feed. I read countless analyses in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. I scoured websites for new polls and approval ratings percentages.
The conclusion was the same everywhere: The GOP’s messaging on inflation and crime was striking a chord with the electorate. Roe v. Wade was yesterday’s news; that fervor had peaked and faded, replaced by anxiety over the rising cost of groceries and gasoline. Nobody was worried about a “threat to democracy,” even if President Biden made a speech about it. It was the economy, stupid. As it ever was.
Everyone was on board with this, from the addled fever dreams of Tucker Carlson’s brain to the thumb-sucking commentariat of the great Gray Lady. The future was Republican, folks, and this election would be a nightmare for progressives. A “red wave” would sweep the GOP into control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The only question was how much of a margin they would get. The next two years would then feature a parade of contrived impeachments, investigations of Hunter Biden’s laptop, blockages of judicial appointments, anti-LGBTQ and anti-transgender legislation, and more anti-abortion measures.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the blowout: Namely, everyone got it wrong.
On election night, the red wave was a brief ripple in still water, stirred by the early returns in newly gerrymandered Florida. But it didn’t sustain. Instead, we had an historic blue blowback — an unheard-of mid-term election in which the opposing party lost ground. State legislatures and governorships were flipped blue. The Senate stayed firmly in Democratic hands. Which party would win the House was still unknown as I write this, but it’s obvious that neither party will have enough of an edge in Congress to control much of anything.
So what do we take from this? First and foremost is the fact that polling is broken. It’s useless. We need to stop using polls as the basis for news stories and analysis. A recent Times story reported that, on the average, only one in 29 people takes a call from a pollster. A poll based on the 1,000 responses (from 29,000 calls!) of the oddballs who actually answer unknown calls is in no way indicative of the public sentiment on anything. It’s another reason polls entirely missed the surging youth vote. People in their 20s don’t answer unknown numbers. Hell, they barely even talk on their phones to their parents. Adding to the chaos, the GOP flooded the media with bogus polls that had Republicans ahead, further skewing the narrative.
What else do we take away? Well, simply put, Donald Trump is finished. Done. Toast. After the party’s third election loss in four years, GOP leaders have suddenly found the “courage” to begin rejecting the Big Orange. Almost every nutjob he endorsed lost, from coast to coast. The electorate rejected MAGA, rejected election denial, rejected the removal of abortion rights, and rejected Trumpism.
Trump won’t get the message for a while. His ego won’t let it happen. But watch how the winds blow over the next few days. Hell, watch how Lindsey Graham blows over the next few days. When Trump loses Lindsey, he’ll know it’s really over. Even Mike Pence has found some measure of rectitude, albeit only after six years of obsequious toady-ism.
These election results have given me hope, a thing that’s mostly eluded me over the past six years, when it seemed darker, autocratic, even violent forces were on the rise, inevitable. It’s all making me feel a bit like Roger Stone, only nice.
Complications have already set in regarding next year’s race for Memphis mayor, inasmuch as a ruling by Federal Judge John Fowlkes about a residential requirement in the city of Mason could affect the legality of races in Memphis, which has similar residential requirements. Neither would-be contestants Van Turner or Floyd Bonner at the moment has a Memphis residence.
And sexist talk by candidate Joe Brown at a weekend forum would seem to make it necessary that either Karen Camper or Michelle McKissack or both follow through with their mayoral plans.
Meanwhile, not the least interesting item on the November 8th election ballot is an amendment removing a restriction against ministers of the cloth holding office in the legislature. Given long-standing sentiment for dividing church and state, this one will doubtless require of voters some serious meditation — prayer, even.
Three other amendments are of more-than-usual interest. One, the “Right-to-Work” amendment would enshrine in the Tennessee Constitution the state’s existing bar against mandatory union membership. Business wants it. Labor doesn’t. Another amendment provides for the house speaker to assume the office of governor temporarily during an emergency. And another amendment abolishes explicitly the practice of slavery in any form.
Other matters of interest on the ballot include a governor’s race pitting GOP incumbent Bill Lee against Democratic hopeful Jason B. Martin and a whole squadron of Independents.
Of other competitive races, 8th District Republican Congressman David Kustoff and 9th District Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen face Lynnette Williams (D) and Charlotte Bergmann (R), respectively, plus a bevy of Independents in each case.
The state Senate District 31 seat is contested by well-heeled Republican Brent Taylor and Democrat Ruby Powell-Dennis. The district is heavily Republican but has been run close by Democrats.
Democrat London Lamar is favored in state Senate District 33 over Republican Frederick Tappan and Independent Hastina Robinson.
A special circumstance prevails in state House District 86, where Democrat Barbara Cooper, recently deceased, is pitted against Independent Michael Porter. If Porter should finish first, he wins the seat. If Cooper ends up ahead, the Election Commission will call a special election and permit new candidates to file.
State House District 95 sees GOP incumbent Kevin Vaughan challenged by Democrat Patricia Causey, and in state House District 97 incumbent Republican John Gillespie also has a Democratic challenger, Toniko S. Harris.
Memphis has a special election for City Council, District 4. Contestants are LaTonia Blankenship, Barry Ford, DeWayne Jackson, and Jana Swearengen-Washington. A vacancy exists for Municipal Court judge, as well. Vying for that position are Patience “Missy” Branham, Latonya Sue Burrow, John Cameron, Varonica R. Cooper, Lynnette Hall-Lewis, Latrena Davis Ingram, William “Bill” Larsha, Christine Stephens, and Carolyn Watkins.
Bartlett has a full slate of candidates in that city’s municipal election. For mayor: Steven Brent Hammonds, John Lackey, David Parsons, and Kevin Quinn. For alderman, position 1: Casper Briggs, Harold Brad King, Jimmy D. Norman, and Victor Read. For alderman, position 2: Robert Griffin, Stephen Spencer, Thomas Stephen Jr., and Brandon S. Weise. Paul Kaiser and David Reaves vie for position 3. Aislinn McEwen and Bryan Woodruff are contesting school board, position 4.
Collierville has aldermanic races, too. In position 1, William Boone vies with Maureen J. Fraser. In position 2, Jewel Jordan and Billy Patton compete. In position 4, the contestants are Emily Fulmer and Missy Marshall. Wanda Chism and Alissa Fowler are competing for school board, position 2. Position 4 on the board is sought by Keri Blair, Chelsea Glass, Heath Hudspeth, and Jeremy Smith.
Contested positions in Germantown are for alderman, position 1, with Manjit Kaur and Scott Sanders running. Daniel Chatham and Jeffrey Chipman are competing for school board, position 2, and Angela Rickman Griffith and Carrie Schween are vying for school board, position 4.
In Lakeland, Michele Dial and Connie McCarter are competing for commissioner, and Keith Acton, Laura Harrison, and Deborah Thomas are running for school board.
Millington has competitive races for alderman, position 3, with Chris Ford and Tom Stephens; school board, position 3, with Brian McGovern and Gregory L. Ritter; and school board, position 6, with Mandy Compton and Larry C. Jackson.
The blue wave of 2018 was not unique to Shelby County; it crested virtually everywhere in the nation, but in that year’s Shelby County election, it became a tsunami, flooding out what had been an extended period of Republican dominance that began with the establishment of partisan elections in 1992. The fact that the GOP chose not even to compete this year for the position of sheriff was a concession to the party’s obviously reduced strength in a majority-Black, Democratic-leaning local population.
Statewide, Shelby County’s preeminence in Democratic affairs has historically been shared with Davidson County, site of the state capital of Nashville. As Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen pointed out at a recent Democratic rally, however, the party’s position in the capital has been somewhat undermined by the governing GOP’s ruthless gerrymandering in the 2022 session of the General Assembly. District lines were redrawn so as to reduce Nashville’s Democratic representation in the legislature and to virtually eliminate its ability to elect a Democratic congressman.
As was noted by Cohen, who is likely to end up being the sole surviving Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee, this development enlarges the status of the Memphis area as an anchor of the state’s fast-disappearing two-party system.
State and Federal It is no coincidence that the three candidates for the Democratic nomination for governor hail from the state’s two major metropolises. Jason Martin, who began running more than a year ago after charging incumbent GOP Governor Bill Lee with negligence during the Covid-19 epidemic, is from Nashville, while Carnita Atwater, a public health administrator, and JB Smiley, a city councilman, are both Memphians. The three Democrats agree on most issues, especially in their condemnation of Lee’s controversial school-voucher program, which targets only Memphis and Nashville.
Lee is unopposed in his own primary and — in spite of, or because of, his unrelentingly arch-conservative position on all issues save that of criminal justice reform — netted a favorability rating of 56 percent in the latest Vanderbilt University poll.
In little more than a decade’s time, the political complexion of Tennessee at large has gone from traditionally Democratic to defiantly Republican, and Lee will be heavily favored against whichever Democrat wins their primary.
Shelby County is served by two congressional districts — the 8th, which consists of a broad swath of rural West Tennessee, along with a strategic salient in affluent East Memphis, and the 9th, which, post-gerrymandering, extends from most of Memphis through Millington to a portion of Tipton County. Republican 8th District incumbent David Kustoff of Germantown should win easily in the GOP primary against challengers Danny Ray Bridger Jr. of Milan, Gary Dean Clouse of Somerville, and Bob Hendry of Collierville. Tim McDonald of Jackson and Lynette Williams of Collierville vie in the Democratic primary for the right to oppose Kustoff in November.
The aforementioned Cohen, a national as well as a local figure, who normally has only pro forma opposition, envisions a somewhat stouter test than usual. To be sure, his primary opponent, M. LaTroy Alexandria-Williams, is but a perennial candidate, as — on the Republican side — are Charlotte Bergmann and the madcap pretender Leo AwGoWhat. But a third Republican, the odds-on favorite to win his primary, is Brown Dudley, a Memphis entrepreneur who has GOP establishment support and enough cash on hand to give Cohen at least a theoretical run for his money in November.
On the Democratic side, there are five contested races — one of the state Senate and four for the state House.
In Senate District 33, former State Rep. London Lamar, recently appointed to the seat by the County Commission, is heavily favored over two primary opponents — Marion LaTroy Alexandria-Williams Jr. and Rhonnie Brewer. Republican Frederick D. Tappan will be her Republican opponent in November.
In House District 84, longtime Democratic incumbent Joe Towns Jr. has a primary opponent, Brandon Price, but should win another term. Likewise, Democratic incumbent Jesse Chism is heavily favored over primary opponent Phyllis Parks in District 85.
In House District 86, Barbara Cooper, still going strong in her 90s, has the most formidable opponent in quite a while in Will Richardson, who basically talks up his presumably fresher legs. Democrat Torrey Harris, a first-termer in a reconfigured district, is favored over challenger Barbara Farmer-Tolbert in District 91.
Meanwhile, Democrats Toniko Harris and Houston Wolf vie for the right to oppose District 97 GOP incumbent John Gillespie in November.
On the Republican side, the only contested legislative race is the House District 99 primary between incumbent Tom Leatherwood and challenger Lee Mills. This is a grudge match of sorts, the third contest for the seat, in one way or another, between Leatherwood and Mills, who was notified early this year by state Elections Coordinator Mark Goins that, according to census maps, his house was in the outlying portion of a subdivision split between Shelby and Fayette counties. Chancellor Jim Kyle ruled that Mills and his wife, County Commissioner Amber Mills, could stay on the ballot in Shelby County because they paid their property taxes there.
Mayor Lee Harris
County General Election Shelby County Mayor: Strictly speaking, the major countywide seat up for grabs is that for Shelby County mayor. But the race between Democratic incumbent Lee Harris and Republican challenger Worth Morgan has somehow managed to stay on the back burner, public attention-wise. This is despite the fact that both candidates have had access to, and employed, ample budgets. (During any election season, a drive down Walnut Grove will tell you who the big spenders are, and Morgan’s yard signs are much in evidence there this year.)
City Councilman Worth Morgan
City Councilman Morgan has inveighed against what he says has been Harris’ failure or negligence on matters of public safety, public accessibility, and public affairs in general. “We Deserve Better,” he says, citing, among other things, the initial snafus in the county’s distribution of Covid vaccines, but his advertising has focused on a dubious claim that the mayor has somehow “defunded the police.” Upon examination, the charge — dependent on a highly creative reading of county budget numbers — founders, and Sheriff Floyd Bonner, whose department would seem to be the county equivalent of “the police,” has made no such contention. With regard to truth in advertising, the public deserves better.
For his part, Harris has emphasized a series of governmental initiatives he has pursued, in areas ranging from criminal justice, most notably his Second Chance program for youthful offenders, to gun safety to storm damage to mental health and more, including even the creation of a citizen pipeline on reactions to the war in Ukraine.
On the strength of relative party strengths alone, Harris would seem to have the advantage. There are those who see Morgan’s race as a matter of introducing himself to the public for such future-tense purposes as may occur.
DA Amy Weirich
District Attorney General: Unmistakably, this is the contest which is regarded as the marquee race on the ballot and the one on which both major parties have dug in their heels. Unlike the four-year terms mandated for other countywide offices discussed in this section, the term of a DA runs for a full eight years. Though incumbent DA Amy Weirich carries the Republican Party label (and its residual hopes for the party’s relevance in county government), she is not especially partisan in demeanor and, in fact, has been critical of pro-gun legislation by the General Assembly’s GOP super-majority.
Steve Mulroy
But she is definitely to the right on matters of criminal justice, on the “Law and Order” side of the equation, or, as she puts it, on the side of the victims of crime. Her Democratic opponent, University of Memphis law professor and former County Commissioner Steve Mulroy, is an exponent of various criminal-justice reforms and contends that Weirich’s positions are rigid and overly harsh, counterproductively so. Between the two positions, and inclusive of them, is a whole universe of useful options to be considered, but the contest has so far smacked more of the legal courtroom’s adversary process than it has of Socratic dialogue.
Mulroy cites various chastisements conferred on Weirich by judicial tribunals as indication of an overzealous prosecutorial zeal. He pronounces her the “worst” DA in Tennessee both in that regard and by virtue of a steady upsurge in violent crime locally during her tenure. She alleges a general laxity in Mulroy’s concern for victims — notably in a highly contentious TV commercial that misleadingly suggests he is a “Defund the Police” advocate motivated by a desire to turn criminals loose.
The two have real differences. Mulroy is for bail reform and post-conviction reviews; Weirich is for “truth-in-sentencing.” On the matter of enforcing the state’s new anti-abortion law, which prescribes criminal penalties, both are circumspect, though Mulroy states directly that prosecuting offenders of the statute would be a “low priority” for him and Weirich insists that the issue is at this point hypothetical. In the event, it is doubtful that either would be prone to pursue such a prosecution. (The law allows for the intervention of a special prosecutor appointed by the state.)
Mulroy has made an issue of what he says is serious racial disparity in the current DA’s office, especially in the prosecutorial ranks, while Weirich maintains she is actively recruiting to improve the balance.
None of the other countywide races have quite the impact or ideological import of the two discussed above, though the principals in them and their respective parties take the potential outcome quite seriously.
Assessor: Melvin Burgess, the Democratic incumbent, has been aggressive both in executing his duties and in pursuing his campaign — enough so to be heavily favored over Republican nominee Steve Cross, who is a veteran of several county offices, including prior service in the Assessor’s Office.
County Trustee: Incumbent Democrat Regina Morrison Newman has accumulated 10 years of service in a partial appointed term and a full elected one. She also has served as president of the West Tennessee Trustees Association, collected some $20 million in back taxes, and initiated several customer-friendly new services as the county’s de facto tax collector. Her Republican opponent is Steve Basar, a former county commissioner who claims endorsements from all of Shelby County’s suburban mayors. Both candidates have worked hard at fundraising; Newman has the advantage of incumbency and whatever blue edge remains.
Bonner supporters Dwayne Thompson (D) and John Gillespie (R) (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Sheriff: As indicated, incumbent Sheriff Floyd Bonner, a Democrat, has no Republican opponent but is opposed by two Independent candidates, Keisha Scott and Donald Taylor, both sheriff’s deputies. Bonner should win big.
Danny and Soheila Kail, husband-wife candidate team (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Circuit Court Clerk: Democrat Jamita Swearengen, who has served recently as City Council chair, is opposed by Republican nominee Soheila Kail, a veteran of county service.
Criminal Court Clerk: Incumbent Democrat Heidi Kuhn has campaigned hard and can boast more than her share of awards during her term of service; she is opposed by Republican Paul Houston, a veteran of service with the Shelby County Correctional Center.
Probate Court Clerk: Democrat Eddie Jones, coming off eight years on the County Commission, during which he served as chair for a year, is opposed by Republican Dewayne Jackson.
County Clerk: Democrat Wanda Halbert handily won her party’s primary in May and can probably turn the trick again, despite a delay in getting out new state automobile plates. She is opposed by Republican Jeff Jacobs and Independent Harold Smith.
Register of Deeds: Democrat Willie Brooks, term-limited on the Shelby County Commission, leaves that body as its chair and is favored over Republican Bryan Edmiston and Independent George “Dempsey” Summers, a frequent candidate.
Tarik Sugarmon handing out lollipops. (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Juvenile Court Judge: Strictly speaking, this position sorts out with the judicial races indicated below. Like them, it carries an eight-year term and is elected on a nonpartisan basis. There are four candidates — William “Ray” Glasgow, Dan Michael, Dee Shawn Peoples, and Tarik B. Sugarmon — but almost all the attention has been focused on Michael and Sugarmon, who dueled for the judgeship eight years ago, with current incumbent Michael coming out ahead.
Two dormant matters have figured in the contest. Sugarmon wants to revive a proposal to create a second juvenile judgeship, while Michael, who opposes the idea, notes that he presides over 12 magistrate referees and says that any such expansion should be multifold. At issue, too, is whether the U.S. Department of Justice should revive a suspended process and return to monitor Juvenile Court for alleged racial inequities. Sugarmon says yes; Michael was one of the county officials who, on a claim of sufficient improvements, successfully petitioned for a halt in the monitoring process.
Judicial Races Inflating the ballot to more than usual proportions in this election is the presence on it of all of the county’s elective judgeships, each of them carrying an eight-year term. The sitting judges and candidates vying for these positions on the bench are enjoined from political rhetoric per se. They may not proclaim their positions on issues likely to come before them, and, aside from affirming their own presumably superior credentials, they are not to attack or otherwise indict their opponents on the ballot.
Given the existence of such strictures and the sheer number of judicial positions to be chosen, it would be folly to expect the majority of lay voters to be properly prepared to make fully informed judgments on those who would judge them. Those members of the electorate best able to do so are members of the legal profession who encounter these candidates on a daily, familiar basis.
Accordingly, here, as a guide to voters at large, are the results of the Memphis Bar Association Judicial Qualification Poll for 2022. Only contested and retention races were polled, and 1,199 active Shelby County attorneys participated in the survey and expressed their preferences. Here they are, with “No Opinion” being an alternative choice in each race.
Demonstrators in front of Mulroy’s and Lee Harris’ headquarters. (Photo: Jackson Baker)
Circuit Court, Division II: Carlos Bibbs, 484; No Opinion, 308; Carol Chumney, 234; Kenneth Margolis, 173.
Circuit Court, Division VI: Stuart Breakstone, 605; Cedric Wooten, 310; No Opinion, 284.
Circuit Court, Division VII: Mary Wagner, 898; No opinion, 172; Paul Robinson Jr., 129.
Circuit Court, Division VIII: Robert Weiss, 779; Damita Dandridge, 190; No Opinion, 171; Larry Parrish, 59.
Chancellor, Part I: Gadson William Perry, 798; No Opinion, 215; Melanie Taylor Jefferson, 186.
Chancellor, Part III: JoeDae “Joe” Jenkins, 867; No Opinion, 259; Richard Parks, 73.
Probate Court Judge, Division II: Karen Webster, 465; No Opinion, 368; Joe Townsend, 366.
Criminal Court Judge, Division I: Paula Skahan, 868; No Opinion, 265, Michael Floyd, 66.
Criminal Court Judge, Division II: No Opinion, 417; Joe Ozment, 284; Jennifer Fitzgerald, 190; Gregory Carman,137; Samuel D. Winnig, 105; Amy G. Mayne, 66.
Criminal Court Judge, Division III: No Opinion, 465; Michael R. McCusker, 461; James Jones, 273.
Criminal Court Judge, Division V: Christopher J. Lareau, 513; No Opinion, 422; Carlyn Addison, 264.
Criminal Court Judge, Division VI: No Opinion, 375; David L. Pool, 366; Reginald Henderson, 270; Ross Sampson, 188.
Criminal Court Judge, Division VII: Lee V. Coffee, 741; No Opinion, 327; Kenya Brooks, 131.
Criminal Court Judge, Division VIII: Chris Craft, 841; No Opinion, 193; Sanjeev Memula, 165.
Criminal Court Judge, Division IX: Mark Ward, 888, No Opinion, 217; A. Melissa Boyd, 94.
General Sessions Civil Court Judge Division 1: Lynn Cobb, 688; No Opinion, 238; Lawrence A. Pivnick, 183; Victoria Gillard, 90.
General Sessions Civil Court Judge, Division 3: Danielle Mitchell Sims, 373; No Opinion, 354; Lincoln Hodges, 232; William “Bill” Larsha Jr., 138; Lisa N. Stanley, 102.
General Sessions Civil Court Judge, Division 4: Deborah Means Henderson, 783; No Opinion, 316; Eran E. Julian, 100.
General Sessions Civil Court Judge, Division 5: Betty Thomas Moore, 736; No Opinion, 300; Varonica R. Cooper, 163.
General Sessions Civil Court Judge, Division 6: Lonnie Thompson, 750; No Opinion, 309; Kim Gilmore Sims, 140.
General Sessions Criminal Court Judge, Division 7: Bill Anderson, 453; No Opinion, 334; Handel R. Durham Jr., 302.
The outcome in a majority of the 13 Shelby County Commission seats was established in the May primaries. The occupants of the remaining five seats remain to be determined in the August 4th election. For all practical purposes, what is at stake is how large the Democratic majority on that body will be when it convenes its new term in September. The two GOP incumbents here are expected to win. A Democratic victory in the three other contested races, considered likely, would result in a 9 to 4 Democratic majority. County Commission Races District 1: Republican incumbent Amber Mills faces Democrat Donna McDonald-Martin.
District 4: Republican incumbent Brandon Morrison vs. Democratic challenger Britney Chauncey.
District 5: Democrat Shante Avant and Republican Todd Payne tangle for an open seat.
District 7: Henri Brooks, Democrat, vs. Shirelle-Dakota Brown, Independent.
District 13: Incumbent Democrat Michael Whaley faces Republican Ed Apple.
Early Voting Hours and Locations Early voting for the August 4th election begins on Friday, July 15th, at the following locations. The Shelby County Election Commission location will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day. All others will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. All locations will be open on Saturday, July 16th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will be closed on Sunday, July 17th. From Monday, July 18th, to Friday, July 23rd, all locations will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., except for the Election Commission, whose hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The same schedule will be kept the week of July 25th through July 29th. On Saturday, July 23rd, all locations will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturday, July 30th, the final day of early voting, all locations will be open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Abundant Grace Fellowship Church, 1574 E. Shelby Dr., Memphis 38116
Anointed Temple of Praise, 3939 Riverdale Rd., Memphis 38115
Arlington Safe Room, 11842 Otto Ln., Arlington 38002
Baker Community Center, 7942 Church Rd., Millington 38053
Berclair Church of Christ, 4536 Summer Ave., Memphis 38122
Briarwood Church, 1900 N. Germantown Pkwy., Memphis 38106
Christian Life Church Memphis, 9375 Davies Plantation Rd., Bartlett 38133
Collierville Church of Christ, 575 Shelton Dr., Collierville 38017
Compassion Church, 3505 S. Houston Levee Rd., Germantown 38139
Dave Wells Community Center, 915 Chelsea Ave., Memphis 38107
Glenview Community Center, 1141 S. Barksdale St., Memphis 38114
Greater Lewis St. Baptist Church, 152 E. Parkway N., Memphis 38104
Greater Middle Baptist Church, 4892 Knight Arnold Rd., Memphis 38118
Harmony Church, 6740 Elmo Rd., Bartlett 38135
Mississippi Blvd. Church – Family Life Center, 70 N. Bellevue Blvd., Memphis 38104
County Commission candidate Quran Folsom affixes one of her campaign signs to a gathering row of others outside the Agricenter early-voting location. (Photo: Jackson Baker)
All but one of the key contested races on the May 3rd county primary ballot are in the Democratic primary. The one exception is a grudge match in which four sitting GOP commissioners are backing newcomer Jordan Carpenter in District 4 (Germantown, East Memphis) against Republican Commissioner Brandon Morrison, whose sin was to cooperate too often with the majority Democrats on the commission.
The main race, in one sense, is between incumbent Democratic County Mayor Lee Harris and challenger Ken Moody, a veteran of city service in two city administrations. Harris hasn’t fully turned on the jets yet, but his backing is both more influential and more bountiful financially than that of Moody.
City Councilman Worth Morgan, a Republican, awaits the winner in August.
There is no sheriff’s race to speak of, since incumbent Democrat Floyd Bonner, unopposed in his own primary, has no Republican opponent — a fact attesting either to the Democrats’ demographic edge countywide or to the GOP’s genuine support for Bonner’s law enforcement policies.
Unquestionably the year’s most intensely competitive race, down the line in August and perhaps on May 3rd as well, is that for district attorney general. Three able Democratic lawyers — Steve Mulroy, Janika White, and Linda Harris — are competing in their primary, with Mulroy, something of an icon in civil liberties and voting-rights circles and the owner of impressive endorsements, presumably in the lead for the right to challenge incumbent Amy Weirich in August. The August race may involve more campaign spending — arguably up to or more than a million dollars — than any other local race.
A tight race is brewing in the Democratic primary for juvenile court clerk, with County Commissioner and community organizer Reginald Milton leading in endorsements and cash receipts in a field including local TV veteran Janeen Fullilove-Gordon, former school board member Stephanie Gatewood, and Marcus Mitchell, a major with the Memphis Police Department. Republican Rob White awaits in August.
Once upon a time, Cordova was a white-flight preserve. It is now fully diversified ethnically, with demographics that lean Democratic, and is to be represented on the County Commission by the newly shaped District 5. Three Democrats are vying in the primary.
If experience and sheer know-how count for anything, Quran Folsom should do quite well on election day. As chief administrator for the past several years, she is aware of all commission programs and protocols. And she’s raised a fair amount of money. The question is, does she have enough of a known public persona and political network to get her vote out?
The network question applies also to Reginald French, who has a lengthy pedigree of involvements with local government, most of it in the past and much of it with the late Herenton city administration, where French, a key figure, knew the ropes and incurred some rope burns, as well.
Shante Avant, from her recent school board work, is known to a constituency; the problem is that her constituency belongs to a South Memphis district, not the Cordova area which she now seeks to represent.
After a recent forum, all three candidates did well enough, addressing mainly residential matters and questions of public safety, to draw plaudits from the event emcee, local Democrat Jeff Etheridge, who expressed the wish that other ballot spots were filled by as many qualified candidates as there were.
The winner will face Republican Todd Payne in August.
Do as I say/Do as I do/do-si-do! Commission candidate Erika Sugarmon (second from left) takes her supporters through some line dancing in preparation for the May 3rd primary. (Photo: Jackson Baker)
• More Commission Races: Well-known Frayser-Raleigh activist Charlie Caswell seems to have an edge over prominent young Democrat Alexander Boulton in the Democratic primary race for commission District 6.
There are five Democratic candidates competing in District 7, including activist Kathy Temple, who has support from progressives; former Commissioner Henri Brooks, who is attempting a comeback; and Althea Greene, who has name recognition as a school board member. Also running are Cartavius Black and Orrden Williams.
Incumbent Edmund Ford Jr. is in good shape to hold off opponents Sam Echols and Sean Harris in District 9.
An interesting three-way in the Democratic primary in District 10 has Kathy Kirk Johnson of the public defender’s office and a well-known local political family competing with mega-activist Britney Thornton, who heads a nonprofit group in Orange Mound, and Teri Dockery, an activist in the Cherokee neighborhood.
Another three-way in District 11 features activist Candice Jones, the early leader by virtue of diligent campaigning; school board member Miska Clay Bibbs; and the Rev. Eric Winston, a repeat candidate for the commission who has support from educators.
In District 12, a battle royal of sorts is on between retired educator James Bacchus; the Rev. Reginald Boyce, senior pastor at Riverside Missionary Baptist Church; educator and voting-rights activist Erika Sugarmon; and David Walker.
Democratic incumbent Mickell Lowery is unopposed in the District 8 primary, as is Michael Whaley in District 13. The Democrats have one challenger each — Donna McDonald-Martin in District 1 and Britney Chauncey in District 4 — both heavily Republican outer-county suburban districts whereto Republican candidates should win handily in August.
• Other Contested Democratic Primary Races: Assessor Melvin Burgess is comfortably ahead of challenger Roderic Blount.
Incumbent Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn is running hard against a repeat opponent, Carla Stotts, and Maerne Bernard.
Circuit Court Clerk Temiika Gipson has a tough race with City Council Chair Jamita Swearengen, who has abundant name recognition and support.
Gipson’s daughter, first-timer Arriell Gipson, is hoping to get traction from an aggressive social media campaign against the heavily favored incumbent County Clerk Wanda Halbert, with William Stovall and Mondell Williams also running.
Incumbent Probate Court Clerk Bill Morrison is dealing with two sturdy challengers, outgoing County Commissioner Eddie Jones and William Chism of a well-known local family.
Incumbent Register of Deeds Shelandra Ford has a serious challenge from current County Commission Chair Willie Brooks and a late-breaking one from Wanda Logan Faulkner, who alleges “deed fraud” as an issue without much elaboration.
