The only countywide election of 2020 in Shelby County has drawn more than a dozen potential candidates for a position most citizens know little about.

The political scramble for the office of General Sessions Court Clerk began in November when incumbent clerk Ed Stanton Jr. told his staff he would not seek a third full term. Word spread quickly from there.

The clerk's office oversees the records, schedules, court orders and payments made to a set of 15 divisions of the court that is often the first stop for criminal and civil cases. The clerk's office is the largest in the state in terms of the paperwork and record keeping matters that are its responsibilities.

The filing deadline for those running in the March 3 primaries for clerk is noon Thursday, Dec. 12. 

The countywide primaries are part of a ballot that is topped by the Tennessee presidential primaries. Early voting is Feb. 12-25. The last day to register to vote in the primaries, if you aren’t registered already, is Feb. 3.

The winners of the primaries advance to a county general election on the Aug. 6 ballot that also features primaries for state and federal offices as well as nonpartisan elections for five of the nine seats on the Shelby County Schools board.

Candidates for clerk who make Thursday’s deadline — with at least 25 signatures of voters who live in Shelby County — have another week to withdraw if they wish before the Democratic and Republican fields are set by the Shelby County Election Commission.

Four of the 18 potential candidates as of noon Wednesday — the most recent update of the field by the election commission — are employees in the clerk’s office. Adrienne Dailey Evans is chief administrative officer. Gortria Anderson-Banks is finance administrator. Tavia Tate is chief principal court clerk. And Rheunte Benson is court coordinator for the criminal divisions of General Sessions. All four pulled petitions in the Democratic primary. Tate and Evans had not filed as of Wednesday.

Lisa W. Wimberly, who pulled for the Republican primary, is a retired employee of the clerk’s office.

Stanton has said he will not endorse anyone in the primaries.

Stanton marks end of clerk’s term and tenure with changes, goals, paper

John Ford’s candidacy for general sessions court clerk is a no-go, state officials say

Fields set for March Tennessee presidential primaries

Shelby County Commissioners Eddie Jones and Reginald Milton are among the 10 contenders filed in the Democratic primary of the eve of the deadline. So has outgoing Memphis City Council member Joe Brown, fresh from his nonpartisan bid for City Court Clerk in the Memphis elections in October.

Tanya Cooper, who ran in the October race for City Council District 3, has also filed for clerk in the Democratic primary.

Former City Court Clerk Thomas Long, who left office in 2015, is also among those with a petition filed for the Democratic primary.

Former Probate Court Clerk Paul Boyd is the one of three candidates filed in the Republican primary as of Monday.

Michael Finney, a county employee who ran in the Republican primaries for Circuit Court Clerk in 2014 and 2018, is also in along with George Dempsy Summers, the locksmith for county government, who ran earlier this year for City Court Clerk.

Former state senator John Ford, who at one time was also General Sessions Court Clerk, filed a petition to run in the Democratic primary. But state elections coordinator Mark Goins has said Ford cannot run for elected office because of his conviction in the 2005 Tennessee Waltz corruption sting.

A state law passed in the wake of the scandal specifically forbade those convicted of such corruption after a certain date from ever running for elected office. A court order restoring some of Ford’s citizenship rights also specified that he could not ever vote or run for elected office.

Roderic S. Ford, among the contenders is this year's City Court Clerk's race – no relation to John Ford – pulled petitions to run as a Democrat and as an independent. He filed the petition for the Democratic primary Wednesday but it did not have sufficient signatures, according to the election commission listing.

Other prospective contenders for clerk with petitions out or filed are:

Del Gill, Democrat, and veteran local Democratic activist

Deirdre V. Fisher, Democrat

Wanda R. Faulkner, Democrat