The annual call for Germantown citizens to apply for boards and commissions this year included a personal invitation from Mayor Mike Palazzolo to a select few residents.

The Shelby County Election Commission set early-voting dates and times for the Dec. 8 runoff in Collierville. Residents can early vote beginning Wednesday.

Raising money isn’t always the key to victory in a campaign, but it helps shed light on the different approaches candidates are taking as they try to attain office in Collierville.

Two years ago, Germantown residents opposed to the direction of Mike Palazzolo’s administration came close to removing the mayor through the candidacy of Alderman John Barzizza.

“I sought this office to restore the soul of America,” 77-year-old Biden said in a Saturday night victory speech not far from his Delaware home.

The response reflects Memphis’ Democratic majority that supported Biden, as well as statewide totals that gave Trump Tennessee.

While presidential battleground states continue to count votes, the count in Shelby County is quietly moving toward completion with a large number of provisional ballots.

A record early vote total in Shelby County was the high point as voter turnout lagged on Election Day. In the aftermath of Tuesday’s election, there were other indications of deep fissures behind both of the front lines that define the county’s partisan divide.

A runoff on Dec. 8 will determine who wins two alderman positions in Collierville. Collierville has not had a runoff since 2003.

A little more than 16 hours later, incumbent Bartlett Alderwoman Paula Sedgwick has not decided whether to challenge last night’s results in an election she likely lost by 61 votes against challenger Kevin Quinn.

The fate of the presidency hangs in the balance as President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden fight for the last handful of battleground states.

Former city manager Jim Atkinson and incumbent Wesley Wright make plans for their new four-year terms.

The Trump presidency has accelerated preexisting rural/urban divides and Tennessee, while not a “battleground” state, is one of the states where those divisions are most deeply felt.

Torrey Harris, who lost to John DeBerry by 21 percentage points in the 2018 Democratic primary, upset the 26-year incumbent in Tuesday’s voting.

In a close race, John Gillespie, a political newcomer, narrowly defeats Democratic challenger Gabby Salinas in the state House District 97 race. 

White retains his seat with 55% of the vote, according to unofficial totals from the Shelby County Election Commission.

Republican Bill Hagerty handily defeated Democratic Memphis environmental activist Marquita Bradshaw Tuesday, Nov. 3, for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Lamar Alexander, bringing to an end the surprise run for the seat that Bradshaw began with a primary upset of Nashville attorney James Mackler.

Millions of voters put aside worries about the virus — and some long lines — to turn out in person, joining 102 million fellow Americans who voted days or weeks earlier, a record number that represented 73% of the total vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Germantown voters decided who would fill open alderman positions and a school board seat.

Related Story: Stamps wins reelection in Collierville; runoffs will decide two other alderman seats

Collierville voters cast ballots for three alderman positions and one contested school board seat.

Challenger Kevin Quinn defeated incumbent Bartlett alderwoman Paula Sedgwick by a mere 61 votes in the suburb’s only contested alderman race, according to unofficial totals from the Shelby County Election Commission. 

Overall, election officials were happy with the day’s process. “It was well-organized. We had a good plan and a lot of people,” Shelby County Elections Administrator Linda Phillips said.

Who will be your elected officials come next year? We know most of them. 

Republican Bill Hagerty was in Cordova Monday morning and Democrat Marquita Bradshaw ended her campaign Monday evening in Orange Mound. The two have waged very different campaigns for the seat Lamar Alexander leaves at the end of the year.