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Taylor’s October surprise and early voting ends with a surge

By , Daily Memphian Updated: November 01, 2026 3:39 PM CT | Published: November 01, 2026 3:31 PM CT

Early voting ended Thursday, Oct. 29, in Shelby County with a legitimate October surprise and a last day surge that brought total turnout closer to a possible majority of the approximately 580,000 voters in the state’s bluest county.

Republican 9th Congressional District nominee and state Sen. Brent Taylor’s admission to the Nashville Scene that he sent nude photos of himself to others and Shelby County’s early voter turnout topping 183,000 were two milestones on the road to a Tuesday Election Day that will answer a lot of questions beyond who wins and who loses.

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Topics

2026 elections Brent Taylor Cameron Sexton Scott Golden Jesse Huseth David Weatherspoon Chaz Molder James Clyburn Damon Hininger CoreCivic Marsha Blackburn Jerri Green David Hatley Memphis Safe Task Force El Corralon nightclub raid Four Way Restaurant SpaceXAI Subscriber Only

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Bill Dries

Bill Dries

Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.


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