Harris, Mulroy, Halbert claim early vote, term limits extension losing
A poll worker helps voters cast their ballots on Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022 in Arlington. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
Democratic Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Democratic District Attorney General nominee Steve Mulroy carried the early vote in Shelby County over the respective challengers.
And a proposed city charter amendment to extend term limits for the Memphis City Council and the Memphis mayor got trounced by the early vote numbers.
The early and absentee votes are the first to be counted once the polls are closed. The numbers below are the early vote only with separate totals not posted yet on absentee votes.
If the early vote total is more than the election day turnout, as indicated by reports early Thursday, the results could be decisive.
Lee Harris
Harris beat Republican challenger and City Council member Worth Morgan decisively in the early vote.
- Harris 48,556
- Morgan 34,479
Meanwhile, Mulroy took the early vote over Republican incumbent Amy Weirich by 10,500 votes.
- Mulroy 46,829
- Weirich 36,376
The ballot question extending the city’s term limits provision to three consecutive terms instead of the current two lost the early vote by a wide margin, mirroring the defeat of the same proposal four years ago.
- No: 31,396
- Yes: 17,556
In other early vote developments:
Tarik Sugarmon
Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael was trailing challenger and Memphis City Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon in the early vote count in a replay of their 2014 race for the position that could have a different outcome than eight years ago.
- Sugarmon 33,931
- Michael 25,692
Wanda Halbert
Democratic Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert had a healthy 7,000-vote lead by the early vote over Republican challenger Jeff Jacobs in the most closely watched clerk’s race on the county general election ballot.
- Halbert 40,612
- Jacobs 33,127
Memphis City Council member JB Smiley Jr. carried Shelby County in the statewide Democratic primary for Tennessee governor over fellow Memphian Carnita Atwater and Dr. Jason Martin of Nashville. But Martin led with 46% of the statewide vote.
The early vote totals in Shelby County were:
- Smiley 30,744
- Martin 11,632
- Atwater 7,578
The winner statewide meets Republican Gov. Bill Lee in the November state and federal general election.
Topics
August 2022 election early vote Amy Weirich Steve Mulroy Lee Harris Worth Morgan Dan Michael Tarik Sugarmon Wanda Halbert Jeff JacobsBill 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 more than 40 years.
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