Election Commission Chairman Brent Taylor and Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner spoke on this week’s “Behind The Headlines.”

“Blue Oval City is really what changed my mind entirely, because that’s a real make-or-break for the future of Bartlett,” said alderman Kevin Quinn. 

At the noon Thursday, Feb. 17, filing deadline to get on the county primary ballot, there was only one contested Republican primary. But every incumbent Democratic official holding countywide office had challengers in the May primaries.

This year, local voters will be asked to go to the polls three times: in May, August and November. 

On the way to the deadline for the May county primaries, the race for a new Cordova County Commission seat has grown and there are early moves by state Rep. London Lamar on the August ballot.

Three of the Arlington Board of Education members are up for reelection in August, and while all are leaning towards another term, one already has a challenger.

Memphians have voted twice to use ranked-choice voting, also known as instant-runoff voting, although it hasn’t yet been implemented. 

Meanwhile, Jason Martin slams Gov. Bill Lee’s state of the state address and calls for the legalization of pot in all forms. And a look at the May and August ballots ahead of Thursday’s deadline to get on the May county primary ballot.

The three will seek new terms when their offices appear on the Nov. 8 municipal ballot.

“The river is a remarkable, remarkable sight right there at Tom Lee Park ... like the surface of a muscular dragon,” said David Alan Clark, who created the monument that was put in place 16 years ago.

Unfair maps can result in expensive lawsuits, poor representation for the political minority, foregone-conclusion elections and safe seats for incumbents. Partisan redistricting also causes voters to lose faith in the system and disengage from civic life.

Many of the incumbents on the August ballot showed up for the first day of the period to pull and file qualifying petitions to get on the ballot.

The indicted state senator is seeking reelection but is expected to face opposition as he tries to retain his seat for District 31.

Contenders seeking a place on the ballot of more than 100 races and potentially hundreds of candidates can begin pulling and filing qualifying petitions Monday in the second of three elections this year. Meanwhile, the May county primary ballot continues to take shape with its own overlapping deadlines.

The dollar figures are among the campaign finance reports covering the past six months. They also show Republican county mayoral contender Worth Morgan has a balance of $159,540.

Reaves announced this past weekend that he will seek the suburb’s Position 3 seat held by David Parsons. Parsons has announced he will run for mayor rather than seek another term as alderman.

There are now five potential contenders in the Democratic primary for Shelby County mayor with about three weeks to the filing deadline to get on the ballot. Here’s a rundown of the latest filings and a few other campaign notes.

County election commission does its first extensive precinct realignment in two decades.

Alderwoman Mary Anne Gibson will seek a third term in Germantown.

Additional candidates have filed petitions for the upcoming May primaries. 

The first of the year’s elections is the May county primaries, with early voting starting in mid-April.

As he filed his qualifying petition Friday, Jan. 21, Moody said he hopes the May Democratic mayoral primary remains a one-on-one matchup with incumbent Mayor Lee Harris. 

Former commissioner Josh Roman will seek the Lakeland mayor’s office in November; incumbent Mike Cunningham still deciding on seeking re-election.