With longtime Mayor A. Keith McDonald stepping down this year, two alderman and a Bartlett police officer have announced they will seek the suburb’s top elected office.

So far, 43 contenders have pulled qualifying petitions to get on the May 3 county primary ballot. Three have also filed their petitions with the Shelby County Election Commission.

The latest contenders in the May county primaries to pull qualifying petitions include a Democratic challenger to County Mayor Lee Harris. 

Those pulling petitions have until noon Feb. 17 to file their petitions with the Shelby County Election Commission and if certified go on the May 3, 2022, county primary ballot.

Althea Greene opened her bid for the District 7 commission seat by saying Tennessee’s new open carry gun law is meant to increase violence and killings. Candidates can begin pulling and filing qualifying petitions in the May primaries, including the commission races, starting Monday.

White makes the Democratic primary race a three-way contest with the winner in May expected to challenge Republican DA Amy Weirich in the August county general elections.

Harris has had a campaign treasurer for his second term effort since 2019. But the Wednesday, Dec. 8 release of the video is the first sign of life in that re-election effort, which will come with challengers.

If approved on three votes, the raises would apply to the next term of office that begins Sept. 1, 2022, after next year’s county primaries and general elections. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris says he doesn’t support it.

State Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) surrendered his passport and pleaded not guilty to five counts of campaign violations and fraud in federal District Court in Nashville.

Legislators voted to allow, but not require, partisan school board elections. The legislature also reviewed a number of bills related COVID-19 measures.

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The commission meets in special session Wednesday, Oct. 27, to advance a redistricting ordinance through the second of three votes.

County Commissioner Mark Billingsley has decided not to run for county mayor next year — another piece in a political puzzle still taking shape less than a year from May county primary elections.

The new district lines will reflect a drop of 16,000 Memphians by the U.S. Census count and populations gains in three of the seven single-member City Council districts as well as drops in the head count in the other four districts. 

The council tabled a move to put an ad hoc working group in place, similar to what the Shelby County Commission already has up and running. The delay came after a discussion about motives, snakes, the city’s method of redistricting and protecting incumbents.

Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer was among 25 activists arrested Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 19, during a No More Excuses rally in front of the White House.

The second-term Memphis City Council member declared his candidacy Monday, Oct. 11. In his interview with The Daily Memphian, Morgan talked about what to expect from his campaign.

A veteran Public Defender is seeking to become the first Indian-American to serve as a judge in Shelby County. But Sanjeev Memula is considering which of the nine criminal divisions of General Sessions Court he will seek.

Former federal prosecutor Linda Harris said Memphians are becoming “desensitized” to violence and that current remedies aren’t working. Harris is one of several candidates who plan to challenge incumbents in the criminal justice system by calling for change.

Shelby County Democratic Party Chairwoman Gabby Salinas says a new political action committee approved for the local party is a start toward a better-organized Democratic effort in the state’s bluest county.

Sheriff Floyd Bonner says the COVID-19 pandemic has made his job more difficult but touted low crime rates in unincorporated Shelby County. 

The special assistant to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland talked about his exploratory campaign for mayor Wednesday, Sept. 8, and sounded very much like he is in the race while taking a few jabs at incumbent Mayor Lee Harris.

The first-term City Council member claims the numbers are there to first win the August statewide primary and then the November general election. That’s despite no Democrat winning statewide office in Tennessee in 15 years.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves talked about the pandemic Thursday, Aug. 26, at a re-election fundraiser in Shelby County held at a replica of the Mississippi governor’s mansion. 

Shelby County commissioner’s exploratory committee for Memphis mayor is another indication that county Mayor Lee Harris will seek re-election next year.

Dr. Jason Martin of Nashville, a likely contender in the Democratic primary for governor, campaigned in Memphis this past weekend.