VOL. 133 | NO. 88 | Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Lenoir and Harris Advance in County Mayor's Race
By Bill Dries
Republican David Lenoir and Democrat Lee Harris will meet in the Aug. 2 county general election to decide who will be the next Shelby County Mayor. Lenoir and Harris won their respective primaries easily Tuesday, May 1, 2018.
Lenoir, the outgoing county trustee, beat county commissioner Terry Roland and juvenile court clerk Joy Touliatos.
Harris, a state Senator, beat former county commissioner Sidney Chism.
With all 166 precincts in, the unofficial combined results – early vote and election day vote -- for the Republican primary are:
Lenoir 18,408
Roland 8,655
Touliatos 3,115
The unofficial combined results in the Democratic primary are:
Harris 34,081
Chism 10,425
The results become official after an audit and certification by the Shelby County Election Commission
In other countywide races, chief sheriff’s deputy Floyd Bonner won the Democratic primary for sheriff by a 3 to 1 margin over retired sheriff’s office supervisor Bennie Cobb, who was the Democratic nominee in 2014. Bonner had the backing of Republican sheriff Bill Oldham who was term limited from running again. Bonner meets Republican Dale Lane, director of the county Office of Preparedness and a former sheriff’s office supervisor who last ran for sheriff in 2010. Lane ran unopposed in Tuesday’s GOP primary.
With all precincts reporting the unofficial results are:
Bonner 31,765
Cobb 10,979
Incumbent Republican Probate Court Clerk Paul Boyd was upset by former probate court clerk, county commissioner and Memphis City Schools board member Chris Thomas in Tuesday’s primary with George “Dempsy” Summers finishing third. Thomas meets Memphis City Council member Bill Morrison in the August general election. Morrison ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. Independent Jennings Bernard is also on the August ballot.
With all precincts reporting, the unofficial results are:
Thomas 14,286
Boyd 9,920
Summers 2,674
Another city council member, Janis Fullilove easily won the Democratic primary for Juvenile Court Clerk, beating rivals Morrie Noel and Harold C. Smith. She will face Bartlett alderman Bobby Simmons, who beat Trustee’s office employee Robert Hill, in the August county general election.
The unofficial results in the Democratic primary are:
Fullilove 25,118
Smith 14,138
Noel 4,348
The unofficial results in the Republican primary are:
Simmons 16,298
Hill 9,148
Former city council member Wanda Halbert is the Democratic nominee for Shelby County Clerk over Jamal Whitlow and Mondell Williams. She will face Donna Creson, who beat Sohelia Kail and Arnold Weiner in the Republican primary. The winner succeeds Republican incumbent Wayne Mashburn who was term limited from seeking another term and is running as the Republican nominee for Register.
The unofficial results in the Democratic primary for county clerk are:
Halbert 32,536
Whitlow 7,600
Williams 3,266
The unofficial results in the Republican primary for county clerk are:
Creson 12,666
Weiner 7,458
Kail 5,383
Outgoing Shelby County commissioner Melvin Burgess easily took the Democratic primary for Assessor over Lorie Ingram while Robert “Chip” Trouy of the Assessor’s office claimed the Republican nomination over Keith Alexander – the 2014 Republican nominee for assessor who in the interim made several appearances on a white nationalist radio talk show. The winner in the August county general election, which includes independent Katherine Culverhouse, succeeds Democratic incumbent Cheyenne Johnson who was term limited.
The unofficial results in the Republican primary are:
Trouy 16,540
Alexander 10,018
The unofficial results in the Democratic primary are
Burgess 29,707
Ingram 13,946
Former county trustee Regina Morrison Newman is the Democratic nominee for the office Lenoir is leaving in his bid to become county mayor. Lenoir upset Newman eight years ago when Republicans swept every countywide office from Democrats in the 2010 elections.
Newman beat former Memphis Light Gas and Water Division president Joseph Lee and Derrick Bennett in the primary. She meets outgoing Shelby County commissioner George Chism, who beat Dexter Orman in Tuesday’s Republican primary.
The unofficial results in the Democratic primary are:
Newman 19,766
Lee 17,594
Bennett 5,337
The unofficial results in the Republican primary are:
Chism 18,513
Orman 6,001
Outgoing Register Tom Leatherwood, who was term limited after two terms, is the Republican nominee for Circuit Court Clerk, beating rivals Michael Finney, John Lackey and Steve Moore for the position Republican incumbent Jimmy Moore decided not to seek re-election to. Leatherwood, a former state Senator, faces Temika Gipson, who beat Del Gill in the Democratic primary.
The unofficial results in the Republican primary are:
Leatherwood 23,058
Moore 1,968
Finney 1,872
Lackey 999
The unofficial results in the Democratic primary are:
Gipson 30,840
Gill 11,065
The general election race for Register is a matchup between Democrat Shelandra Ford, who beat Adrienne Pakis-Gillon Tuesday, and Republican Wayne Mashburn, who ran unopposed in Tuesday’s companion primary, as well as independent Lady J. Swift.
The unofficial results in the Democratic primary are:
Ford: 21,744
Pakis-Gillon 19,718
Heidi Kuhn, a former executive director of the Crime Victims Center and deputy director of the county Community Services division will challenge Republican incumbent criminal court clerk Richard DeSaussure in the August county general election. Kuhn beat rivals Carla Stotts-Hill and Amanda Scott Hill in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, in the closest countywide race on the ballot – a 688-vote margin. DeSaussure ran unopposed in his primary.
The unofficial results in the Democratic primary are:
Kuhn 16,344
Stotts-Hill 15,656
Hill 9,784