Here is what some of the Memphis mayoral contenders had to say about the Chancery Court ruling that there is no residency requirement for candidates in the October 2023 elections.

How about Justin Timberlake? Leslie Jones? William, Prince of Wales? No connection to Memphis is too tenuous to be mayor. Who would you choose?

The two mayoral candidates, neither of whom have lived in Memphis for two years, and the City Council argued that a 1996 referendum repealed residency requirements.

The poll showed Van Turner and Floyd Bonner tied with about 15.9% of the vote. Willie Herenton trailed them at 13.9%, and Paul Young had 12%.

A resolution to back a five-year requirement for those running for Memphis mayor and Memphis City Council was tabled Tuesday.

Mandy Gunasekara’s run for Public Service Commissioner in Mississippi’s Northern District suffered a blow Thursday when the state Supreme Court ruled she had not met the five-year residency requirement.

The Memphis City Council filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland to stop a five-year residency requirement for elected officials from being enforced. 

He would be a heavy underdog in the general election were he to win the Democratic nomination. 

The Greater 901 Initiative, a political action committee, was identified as the group paying for the earlier poll in an email sent out Tuesday evening.

The meeting was canceled after Memphis City Council Vice Chairman JB Smiley Jr. asked Davis and City Attorney Jennifer Sink about it during the council’s Tuesday meeting. 

Memphis City Attorney Jennifer Sink has taken the stance the City of Memphis' five-year residency requirement for mayoral candidates is in effect.

The City of Memphis’ five-year residency requirement for elected officials goes back to 1905. So why is it up for debate now? And when will we know who is eligible to run for Memphis’ next mayor? 

A referendum ordinance on a two-year residency requirement cleared the Memphis City Council, which left open the question of the residency requirement for this year’s race for mayor.

Related story:

Strickland won’t testify in mayoral residency suit

Watch five mayoral candidates discuss local crime and criminal justice issues during last night’s Daily Memphian mayoral debate. 

The discussion focused on crime and criminal justice moderated by The Daily Memphian CEO Eric Barnes.

Five of the 11 declared mayoral contenders will debate crime, policing and criminal justice at the April 24 event at The Halloran Centre at the Orpheum, which will also be live-streamed on The Daily Memphian site.

A three-plus hour mayoral forum Thursday night at First Congregational Church in Cooper-Young featured Daniel Abston, Frank Colvett, J.W. Gibson, Reginald Hall and Paul Young. 

The lawsuits over the five-year residency rule in the mayor’s race get their first court hearing Friday. Meanwhile, four of the mayoral contenders show up for a People’s Convention gathering at LeMoyne-Owen College and council candidates Meggan Kiel and Pearl Walker kick off their bids.

Cary Vaughn was re-elected Shelby County Republican chairman at the local party’s biennial convention, with a call for new blood and a focus on common ground.

As the People’s Convention begins this weekend, local Republicans will decide if they’ll stick with the party’s current leader. Plus, two contenders for the local Democratic party head, more on the mayoral residency issue and who could be waiting in the wings.

The proposed ordinance comes up for council consideration as two contenders in the 2023 race for mayor have filed lawsuits over the current residency requirement.

Turner’s lawsuit is likely to be combined with a similar challenge of the five-year residency requirement filed Monday by Sheriff Floyd Bonner.

An early unaffiliated poll shows Memphis NAACP President Van Turner, former mayor Willie Herenton and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. tightly bunched at the top of the crowded Memphis mayoral race.

Two contenders for Memphis mayor say they have already decided they will not keep Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis as Memphis Police director if they are elected.

Bonner is seeking to stop enforcement of the city charter’s residency provision for candidates running for Memphis mayor.