Candidates continue to pull petitions to get on the November ballot in Shelby County’s suburban municipalities. 

Some municipal candidates pulled petitions Monday, June 20, the first possible day.

However, there was confusion with many believing the Shelby County Election Office Monday was closed in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. The phone line also said it was closed despite signs on the door that said it would be open.

Election season begins for Shelby County suburbs

Bartlett, Collierville, Lakeland and Germantown’s municipal elections are Nov. 8. Candidates have until noon Aug. 18 to return their petitions with sufficient signatures to the Election Commission. Candidates can withdraw until Aug. 25.

Among the additional candidates who have pulled their petitions or are planning to do so:

Bartlett

Erin Berry - School Board Position 2

Berry, an incumbent who has served on the school board since the district formed in 2013, pulled her petition Monday to run for reelection. She grew up in Bartlett, went to Bartlett schools and graduated from Bartlett High. For the past 20-plus years, she has worked at Camco Roofing Supplies in accounting

John Lackey - Mayor

The former Bartlett mayoral candidate pulled his petition Monday. The retired Shelby County government engineer ran for mayor in 2018, the same year he ran for Shelby County Circuit Court Clerk in the Republican primary (which was won by Tom Leatherwood).

David Parsons - Mayor

Parsons, owner of David Parsons Construction, has served in the city’s Alderman Position 3 seat since being elected in 2002, and he is a former vice mayor. Retiring Mayor A. Keith McDonald is endorsing him.

Brandon Weise - Alderman Position 2

Weise had planned to pull his petition Tuesday but was diagnosed with COVID Tuesday morning. For the past decade, he has worked for Shelby County government with the Probate Court and in the Register of Deeds office, and he previously ran for District 97 in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2020, losing in the Republican primary to John Gillespie.

Collierville Planning commissioner to run for alderman

Collierville

Jewel Jordan - Alderman Position 2

Jordan, a member of the mayor-appointed Planning Commission, will seek his first four-year term. Alderman Billy Patton holds the seat, but he decided against seeking reelection.

Germantown

Betsy Landers - School Board Position 2

Betsy Landers will seek a second four-year term to the Germantown Municipal School District Board of Education. She was appointed to the board in 2016 after Mark Dely moved out of Germantown, and she won election in 2018. In those six years, she served one-year terms as chairwoman and vice chairwoman. Prior to serving on the board, she served parent-teacher associations at the local, state and national levels.

Lakeland

Keith Acton - School Board Position

Acton, a real estate executive, has served on the city’s Economic Development Commission since 2017. The decision this week by school board Chairman Kevin Floyd to not seek re-election drove Acton’s decision to run.

Laura Harrison - School Board Position

Harrison, a FedEx strategic planning and analysis manager, has been part of the district’s Board of Education since its founding in 2013. With the opening of the Lakeland Preparatory High School wing this fall and the city’s population growth, she sees managing student population growth as a major challenge.

Josh Roman - Mayor

The former Lakeland commissioner is running for the city’s top elected position. Mayor Mike Cunningham decided recently to not run for reelection. Roman planned to pull his petition by Tuesday, but the recent death of his father and his funeral Tuesday has delayed his petition until next week.

Deborah Thomas - School Board Position

Thomas, formerly a teacher for 13 years, was elected to Lakeland’s Board of Education in 2018. For the past 14 years, she has worked as an independent contractor, writer and an assessment specialist for Pearson Education. Her focus is on making sure children have what they need to be supported, successful and happy.