Karl Dean
On Thursday, July 13, of next week, a group of Memphis Democrats will host a fundraising event in honor of former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, the sole Democrat so far to have announced a candidacy for Governor in 2018.
The proceeds from the event will go to the sponsoring organization, the Tennessee Voter Project PAC, and the event will take place in the law offices of Glassman, Wyatt, Tuttle & Cox at 26 N. Second St., Memphis, from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Appearing along with Dean, and given parallel billing on the invitation for the event, will be Diane Cambron, the 2017 Volunteer of the Year, as selected by the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus; and Danielle Inez, president of the Shelby County Young Democrats.
The “suggested contribution” for the event is “$40 for those under 40 years old and $100 for everyone else.”
As the fine print on the invitation explains, the Tennessee Voter Project PAC is “a special political action committee formed by Lee Harris that is dedicated to growing the number of registered Democrats.” Harris, of course, is the University of Memphis law professor, former City Councilman, and current District 29 state Senator who is leader of the five Democrats who form the state Senate’s minority caucus.
As the fine print further elaborates: “The last major election saw Tennessee place virtually dead last in voter turnout. We can try to change that through a campaign to register as many democratic voters in Tennessee BEFORE the 2018 election. The time is now to spread democracy and increase political engagement for progressives across the state.”
Hosts for the event are listed as: “Jake Brown, Dawn Campbell, Dr. Davin Clemons, Jeremy Gray, Dan Harper, Lee Harris, Isaac Kimes, Esq., London Lamar, Gavin Mosley, Tami Sawyer, Anthony Siracusa, Bryan Smith, Esq., Thurston Smith, Van Turner, Esq., and Michael Whaley.”