The political past of Tigers basketball
A U of M flag billows behind a statue of the late Larry Finch that was unveiled at the University of Memphis Oct. 28, 2021. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian file)
As political races across Tennessee heat up, reporter Bill Dries helps us keep up, with a political roundup and news of the latest additions to various races.
Politics has been a part of Tigers basketball afterlife for two other former Tigers before Ken Moody decided to challenge incumbent Democratic Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris in the May County primaries.
Larry Finch, a pivotal figure as a player in the 1970s and then as coach of the team during Moody’s playing days, ran for County Register in 1998.
Finch’s widow was with Moody when he announced his bid for Shelby County Mayor.
Finch was a first-time candidate in 1998, challenging incumbent Guy Bates, who at the time was the county’s longest-serving incumbent with ties going back to the Crump political machine.
Finch was talked into the political quest by the late politico Roscoe Dixon.
Even during the campaign, Dixon admitted that Finch’s appeal with voters was despite a take it or leave it attitude Finch had toward campaigning.
In the critical home stretch of the 1998 campaign, Finch stopped actively campaigning altogether without even a moment’s pause to care for an ill family member.
He lost by a mere 127 votes in the countywide contest and never ran again despite other offers from other politicos.
Former point guard Otis Jackson made his first run for register in the next election the office was on the ballot after Finch’s narrow loss.
Jackson lost by a wider margin and next ran for county clerk, losing again. Jackson upset Republican Chris Turner in his third try to become General Sessions Court Clerk and two years later followed with a bid for Shelby County Mayor, saying it was the office he intended to run for all along.
Jackson finished a poor third in the Democratic mayoral primary to nominee and interim county Mayor Joe Ford and outgoing County Commissioner Deidre Malone.
Ford lost in the general election to Republican nominee Mark Luttrell.
Because General Sessions Court Clerk was on a different election cycle than other county offices, Jackson didn’t give up his office and began preparing to run for re-election.
That included a meeting with office employees setting campaign fundraising goals for each of them. The same day one of those employees went to the county attorney’s office to complain and a criminal investigation began.
Jackson was indicted on four charges of official misconduct based on the meetings. The General Sessions Court judges suspended him as clerk.
Jackson sued over the suspension but never returned to the office. Meanwhile, he drew opposition in the Democratic primary from several quarters and ultimately finished third in the 2012 primary.
Jackson never served any jail time. He was instead granted judicial diversion on the charges.
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Memphis Tigers Basketball Larry Finch Roscoe Dixon Otis JacksonBill Dries on demand
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Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.
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