The fat lady of legend has sung her song. The 2007 Memphis
city election is over – a fact that’s music to the ears of newly elected council
members Bill Morrison in District 1, Bill Boyd in District 2,
Harold Collins in District 3, and Edmund Ford Jr., in District 6.
The three latter races were relatively close, with Boyd
beating Brian Stephens by 54 percent to 46 percent; Collins defeating
Ike Griffith by the same percentage, and Ford prevailing over James
Catchings by 53 percent to 47 percent.
The only real blowout occurred in District 1 with the
unexpectedly lopsided victory of Morrison, one of the spunkiest, sunniest, and
most determined new faces of recent political history, who beat school board member
Stephanie Gatewood, no slouch herself, by a margin of almost two to one.
Morrison had help from a talented and seasoned corps of
Democratic activists, many of whom were also active in Stephens’ District 2
candidacy. Aside from former assessor Boyd’s longtime political history, what
may have made the difference for him was the fact of last-minute robo-calls from
former political eminences Bill Morris and Dick Hackett.
Griffith, who has neighborhood cachet in District 3, ran
Collins close, but the latter’s support from established political figures,
including mayors Willie Herenton and A C Wharton, was enough to
give Collins his first leg up as an active candidate in his own right.
Similarly, Ford’s victory, entitling him to succeed his
father, retiring councilman Edmund Ford Sr. in District 6, owed much to
legacy considerations related to his extended family’s prominence in local
politics.
The well-liked Boyd, who is in his 60s, is the anomaly in
the new council, which is overwhelmingly youth-oriented.
With all 122 affected precincts reported, unofficial totals
in the four races were:
DISTRICT 1
(31 Precincts )
- Morrison
– 1479 Votes - Gatewood – 816 Votes
DISTRICT 2(31 Precinct)
Boyd- 2337 Votes- Stephens- 1958 Votes
DISTRICT 3(26 Precincts)
Collins- 865 Votes- Griffith- 741 Votes
DISTRICT 6(34
Precincts)
- Ford
– 1751 Votes
Catchings – 1556 Votes
