Aug. and Nov. ballot candidates begin campaign moves
Marti Miller (center) and Charlotte Bergman leave the firing range after the candidate for Congress participated in some shooting practice at Top Gun in East Memphis on Jan. 11, 2020. Bergmann met with Miller and other supporters at the gun range to open her campaign as a Republican primary candidate for the Ninth Congressional District. At left is Bob Stewart, an instructor and safety officer at Top Gun. (Mike Kerr/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Charlotte Bergmann opened her latest bid for Congress this weekend in a gun shooting range on the Memphis side of the boundary with Bartlett.
After eating barbecue at the Top Gun range with several dozen supporters, Bergmann put on safety glasses and headphones to fire a few rounds at a paper target with help from a supporter.
While the ballot for the March 3 Tennessee presidential primaries and the countywide primaries for General Sessions Court Clerk are set, the races for Congress, the U.S. Senate and the Tennessee Legislature in August and November are just starting to take shape.
“I didn’t actually do too well,” Bergmann said, holding the target later with a mix of holes within the body outline on it and away from the body outline.
Bergmann, a Republican, is making her fifth bid for the 9th Congressional District seat now held by Democrat Steve Cohen.
Charlotte Bergmann talks with supporters at Top Gun, a shooting range in East Memphis, as she opened her campaign for Congress in the August Republican primary for the Ninth Congressional District on Jan. 11, 2020. Bergmann and some of her supporters later entered one of the facility's two gun ranges for some pistol practice. (Mike Kerr/Special to Daily Memphian)
“I think people are saying you can’t take our rights away, and the Second Amendment rights we have were God-given initially,” she said as the muffled sounds of gunfire sounded from the heavily insulated range nearby.
“These are people who want to make sure they are safe,” she said.
This past April, Bergmann’s grandson was murdered.
“I think if my grandson had had an opportunity to protect himself, he would have stood a better chance of being alive,” she said Saturday, adding that before the tragedy she had planned on passing on this year’s Congressional race.
“It was like I was holding a torch. The death of my grandson was the fire in the torch,” Bergmann said.
U.S. Congress Steve Cohen speaks during City Court Clerk Myron Lowery's 29th annual prayer breakfast Jan. 1, 2020. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian)
Cohen is seeking an eighth term in the House and has pledged to run again in 2022.
Since Donald Trump became president in 2016, Cohen has been a vocal critic, representing most of a county carried by Hillary Clinton in the presidential general election with 61.4% of the vote.
In the run-up to the impeachment process in which the House passed two articles of impeachment, Cohen has become a more familiar face and voice on national cable news outlets.
In 2017, he was among the sponsors of five articles of impeachment against Trump at a time when House speaker Nancy Pelosi was urging the Democratic majority in the chamber to mute talk of impeachment. Despite the difference on that point, Cohen has consistently backed Pelosi’s leadership of the chamber.
Most of his remarks at a New Year’s Day prayer breakfast held by City Court Clerk Myron Lowery and his son, Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery, dealt with the impeachment.
“November 2020 is political Armageddon,” Cohen told the audience of 200. “If Trump gets a second term, you can forget about America as we know it.”
Bergmann, in contrast, organized a Trump support rally in October in Civic Center Plaza that drew 35 people.
A few weeks before the murder of her grandson, Bergmann confronted Cohen at one of his town hall meetings in North Memphis. Cohen dismissed Bergmann, and some of those in the audience told Bergmann they backed Cohen’s criticism of Trump.
She has challenged Cohen three times as the Republican nominee for the 9th Congressional District – in 2010, 2014 and 2018. Two years ago, she got 19.2% of the vote to Cohen’s 80%. In 2014, Bergmann got 23.3% compared to 75% for Cohen with the rest going to three independent candidates. In 2010, she polled 25% of the vote in the general election.
Charlotte Bergmann chats with a supporter at Top Gun, a shooting range in East Memphis, as she opens her campaign for Congress in the August Republican primary for the Ninth Congressional District. (Mike Kerr/Special to The Daily Memphian)
Bergmann lost the primary for the seat in 2012 to former county commissioner George Flinn.
This time, Bergmann says she plans to run a “national campaign” if she wins the August Republican primary.
“In the past, I have run local campaigns in order to get my name out there,” she said. “It’s going to be a totally different campaign.”
Candidates in the state and federal primary elections on the Aug. 6 ballot, as well as the nonpartisan races for Shelby County Schools board, can begin pulling and filing qualifying petitions Feb. 3 with an April 2 qualifying deadline. Early voting is July 17-Aug. 1. The winners of the primaries advance to the Nov. 3 general election ballot topped by the presidential general election.
Meanwhile, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has endorsed Democratic presidential contender Michael Bloomberg in the March 3 Tennessee primary. And Bloomberg’s campaign says it plans to open a Memphis field office after opening one in Knoxville this past Friday and one in Nashville before that.
In a written statement issued by the campaign, Strickland described Bloomberg as “practical and innovative.”
“He brings people together and has a proven record of getting things done,” Strickland said, citing Bloomberg’s business background and his record as mayor of New York City.
Strickland’s administration as well as that of his predecessor as mayor, A C Wharton, have worked with Bloomberg’s family philanthropies, including being one of five cities selected by the philanthropies in 2017 for the “What Works Cities Initiative.”
The initiative has provided technical assistance in using data and evidence in decision making by the administration. That includes making public data through “dashboards” on the city’s website.
During the Wharton administration, the philanthropies funded the Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team, which was overseen by Doug McGowen; he became Strickland’s chief operating officer.
The team was best known for the MemShop program that organized temporary, or pop-up, uses of retail at key intersections to explore the appetite for bringing those neglected areas back to life. It was later spun off into the separate nonprofit Innovate Memphis.
The Bloomberg-funded Family Rewards pilot program was also part of Wharton’s “Blueprint to Prosperity” plan. It paid selected families a stipend for milestones like making regular doctors appointments and school attendance.
Bloomberg made a December campaign appearance in Memphis that included support from Democratic state Representative London Lamar.
Bloomberg’s strategy is to begin his quest for Democratic delegates with the set of 14 Super Tuesday primaries that include Tennessee.
He is one of 13 active contenders on a Tennessee Democratic primary ballot that lists 16 candidates – including three who have since ended their campaigns.
In past Super Tuesday contests, a large field of Democrats usually means several divide up the delegates with no one candidate dominating the set of primaries. The various contenders usually pick and choose which of the Super Tuesday states they will compete in.
Bloomberg’s campaign describes Tennessee as a “priority state.”
Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden in the primary.
Other local Democrats backing Biden include state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, who stumped for Biden last week in Iowa. The bus tour also featured former Secretary of State and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.
The Biden and Bloomberg camps have the most significant presence in the city so far with organizers for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders holding an organizing session in the city last month.
The race for clerk is the only countywide election in the 2020 elections. Incumbent Democrat Ed Stanton Jr. is not seeking re-election.
There are 13 Democratic contenders in the clerk’s primary, including four who work in various positions in the clerk’s office. Strickland has endorsed Shelby County Commissioner Reginald Milton in the primary. Fellow commissioner Eddie Jones, meanwhile, opened his campaign headquarters for the clerk’s race in Whitehaven this weekend.
Four Republican contenders are in that party’s primary for the clerk’s office.
The last day to register to vote in the March 3 election is Feb. 3, if you aren’t already registered to vote. Early voting is Feb. 12-25.
Topics
2020 Election Charlotte Bergmann Steve Cohen Michael Bloomberg Jim StricklandBill Dries on demand
Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Bill Dries' stories as they’re published.
Enter your e-mail address
Bill Dries
Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for more than 40 years.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.