The Democratic primary race for district attorney is about to turn from general calls for change to who can upset incumbent Republican Amy Weirich.

Related story:

Ballot basics: Early voting begins

The ruling on a motion Monday, April 11, means early voting in advance of the May 3 election day opens Wednesday at a single Downtown site. The other 25 early voting sites open the Monday after Easter Sunday.

Billy Orgel decided not to file the petition for re-election he pulledin February. That left Amber Huett-Garcia as the only candidate in the race and effectively elected to the District 6 MSCS board seat at the Thursday filing deadline. There were other surprises at the deadline in other races.

With some petitions still out ahead of the Thursday, April 7, noon deadline, there is a chance some contenders will have no opposition on the August ballot. Here’s a run down of the filing developments.

Steven Smith was previously chairman of the Arlington’s Cemetery Preservation Restoration Committee and serves as president of the town’s Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities.

Shelby County Commissioner Brandon Morrison defends her conservatism while opponent Jordan Carpenter targets what he calls “dangerous ideologies” and “perversion.”

Robert Griffin, a former Memphis in May official, joins a growing field of candidates seeking to replace Emily Elliott in Bartlett alderman Position 2.

April marks the deadline to register to vote in the May 3 elections, the filing deadline for the August ballot, and the start of early voting ahead of the May 3 election day.

The Memphis Branch NAACP, along with two other organizations, has filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission.

Jordan Hinders is challenging incumbent alderman Oscar Brooks for the Position 4 seat later this year.

There’s nothing wrong with a non-partisan mayor trying to curry favor with a member of either political party, particularly when his constituents elected him to do just that.

On The Daily Memphian’s On The Record Podcast, the three Democratic primary contenders for Shelby County District Attorney General discussed what happens in the prosecutor’s office on day one if they upset incumbent Amy Weirich in August.

Each of the three Democratic primary candidates for Shelby County District Attorney General pledge to make deep reforms in the prosecutor’s office.

Related story:

What change in the DA’s office could look like on first day

As some Democrats pledge to try to censure Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland for endorsing a Republican candidate for state Senate in the August primaries, local Republicans have their own internal differences.

With longtime Alderwoman Emily Elliott stepping down in June, Brandon Weise has announced he will seek her seat in the Nov. 8 municipal election.

Strickland’s backing of Brent Taylor in the state Senate District 31 primary follows endorsements by Tennessee Republican U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty.

The funding would provide for notices to Shelby County voters about changes to precincts and polling places. 

Related story:

Renovation costs for juvenile detention center more than double

Charles Everett, a Tennessee PTA leader and co-founder of Uplift Westwood, is the new District 6 Memphis-Shelby County Schools board member. 

Here’s the latest on who has filed or pulled qualifying petitions for the August nonpartisan county races and the state and federal primaries on the same ballot.

Two former Tigers basketball players have sought elected office before with one winning and the other coming close.

Democrat Ken Moody and Republican Worth Morgan have words of criticism for incumbent Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris as they campaign for his job. 

A criminal defense lawyer told lawmakers he crafted a law similar to “truth in sentencing” decades ago — and regretted it.

Moody’s campaign to upset incumbent county Mayor Lee Harris points to letters exchanged by city and county attorneys highlighting issues between local leaders and jurisdictional lines, specifically over the city’s possible role in contact tracing.

Manjit Kaur will likely challenge Alderman Scott Sanders in Germantown’s November election.