The 1st includes DeSoto County. Southaven, Hernando, Horn Lake, Olive Branch, Oxford, and Tupelo are all in the district.

How are candidates booted from primary ballots? Also in the political roundup, heads butt on the Memphis Safe Task Force, where Lee Harris and Edmund Ford Jr. agreed and recent D.C. votes on Iran air strikes.

While neither has kids in the district, they’ve been involved for many years.

Germantown is saying if the mayor becomes full-time, the elected individual would have to quit their full-time job. However, the referendum on the May 5 ballot doesn’t state such.

All 13 state House incumbents and three state senators representing Shelby County have checked out qualifying petitions for the August ballot. The filing deadline for primary challengers is March 10.

“We’re seriously close to losing our country. If these midterms go the wrong way, we will lose everything we have,” said a U.S. representative speaking at Shelby County’s largest annual fundraiser for the local Republican Party.

Gibson has been on the board for 12 years and was chosen as vice mayor for a ninth time in December.

For most of an hour at Springdale Baptist Church in North Memphis, six of the Democratic candidates for Shelby County mayor displayed few differences. Then, the prospect of a new jail to replace the dilapidated and struggling 201 Poplar brought them to life.

The Germantown alderman is challenging incumbent Mike Palazzolo, who is seeking a fourth term. 

Another Republican claims another County Commission seat. And the busiest primary on the ballot remains the Democratic primary for County Clerk.

The former Democratic state representative is running in the May Republican primary for Shelby County mayor. “I intend to win this race,” he said.

A total of 121 candidates made the deadline to file their qualifying petitions with the Shelby County Election Commission.

Also in the political roundup, Rose says he has a plan for state control after the Task Force; Buckner says the Task Force has a secret; and Smiley says the county mayor has a role to play at the jail.

State party leaders say there will be no hearing at a Saturday meeting on some concerns expressed by local Democrats about whether the former MSCS superintendent is a “bona-fide” Democrat.

May ballot races thick and thin develop ahead of Thursday’s noon deadline, with a warning a final list could take a while.

Halbert also checked out qualifying petitions for two other countywide positions on the 2026 ballot.

Newly filed campaign finance forms show two Shelby County Democratic mayoral candidates with far more financial resources than the rest of the crowded primary. 

A well-known Republican candidate for Shelby County mayor has emerged after all: Former state Rep. John DeBerry of Memphis is weighing a bid in the Republican primary for Shelby County mayor.

A local judge ruled that Shelby County commissioners “exceeded their authority” in passing a resolution that placed all nine school board seats on the ballot last fall. 

The Tennessee Secretary of State’s Office said Wednesday that the issues some voters had accessing their registration Tuesday night stemmed from a computer glitch. 

Memphis lawmaker Brent Taylor sponsors a bill to keep naturalized and dual citizens out of party primaries. 

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn gets an almost-endorsement from President Donald Trump in her run for governor. Jerri Green talks about ICE and ice. And some campaign finance reports get filed early.

Races on the May and August ballots continue to take shape ahead of filing deadlines in February and March.

Already facing Rep. Justin J. Pearson, Steve Cohen faces a new challenger; one who was active during the George Floyd protests in Memphis years ago. 

Rachel Davis moved to Collierville because keeping her kids in the district was important. Now she’s seeking election to the suburb’s Board of Education.