The candidates vying for Memphis’ District 9 board seat range from a former board chair to the lone pro-state takeover candidate. The May 5 Democratic primary will determine who wins the spot.

As voters cast early ballots in the primary, Tennessee lawmakers are expected to take final votes on takeover legislation that would strip elected school board members of their powers by granting major decision-making authority to nine Shelby County state appointees.

With early voting starting this week, the lobbying for Germantown voters to decide if they want to go the full-time mayor’s route has increased.

The lack of financial forms makes it difficult to see how key candidates have fared with donors in the past three months.

The Daily Memphian interviewed the five Democratic and two Republican primary candidates for sheriff, asking them about 201 Poplar, recruiting and retention, the Memphis Safe Task Force, and more.

Most of the opening day voters were Democrats, whose ballot boasts a race with the largest field of candidates.

Here is your guide to who is running in the May Democratic primary to succeed Wanda Halbert as County Clerk.

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All 11 candidates in the Democratic primary for County Clerk

Here are brief bios of the 11 candidates in the May 5 Democratic primary for County Clerk. The winner meets Republican nominee Tina Montgomery in the August county general election.

Here’s an overview of the Democratic primary race for county mayor, the seven candidates and their interaction with each other as well as the shadow of the outgoing mayor on the race.

Early voting ahead of the May 5 election day in Shelby County begins Wednesday, April 15, at 26 locations across the county. Here’s everything you need to know about the start of the first election of 2026.

In this week’s political roundup: Harris backs Collins, Memphis loses a public records case, Lowery weighs in on LeBron, and Green talks medical debt and executive orders.

Leaders of the local Republican and Democratic parties talked about the May Shelby County primary elections on “Behind The Headlines.”

“When you look at the board and how it’s made up,” said Jason Morrison, “I thought it would be nice to have some new blood in there and some differing perspectives.”

The lawsuit is the second Marie Feagins has filed against MSCS since she was fired in January 2025.

Another enters the battle in the Republican primary for Wanda Chism’s seat on the Collierville Schools board. 

The candidate forum included discussion of a new jail and calls for more transparency in how the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office runs the jail and fights crime.

For some of those seeking a spot on a local school board, the only thing that stands in the way of the November general election is an August ballot. 

Here’s what the 16 races for seats in the Tennessee legislature representing Shelby County looked like at the Tuesday deadline to get on the Aug. 6 ballot. Check out the full list for all of the races via a link in the story.

Germantown residents will be voting whether to make the town’s mayoral position a full-time gig. However, officials took back earlier statements that a full-time mayor must quit any other full-time job.

The deadline to file qualifying petitions to get on the August state and federal primary ballot was noon Tuesday, March 10.

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.