2019 Memphis mayoral election

Last updated
2019 Memphis mayoral election
Flag of Memphis, Tennessee.svg
←  2015 October 3, 2019 (2019-10-03)
Officially nonpartisan		 2023  →
Turnout26.7% Decrease2.svg [1] 1.3 pp
  Mayor of Memphis Jim Strickland (cropped).jpg Rudy Giuliani and Willie Herenton (47479766912) (closest crop.jpg
Candidate Jim Strickland Willie Herenton
Party Democratic Democratic
Popular vote59,88627,694
Percentage62.11%28.72%
 
Candidate Tami Sawyer
Party Democratic
Popular vote6,666
Percentage6.91%
Memphis Mayor 2019.svg
Results by precinct
Strickland:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Herenton:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
     No votes
Mayor before election

Jim Strickland
Democratic

Elected Mayor

Jim Strickland
Democratic

The 2019 Memphis mayoral election took place on October 3, 2019, to elect the mayor of Memphis, Tennessee. Jim Strickland, the incumbent mayor, was re-elected to second term in office. The mayoral election coincided with elections to all thirteen seats on the Memphis City Council.

Contents

The election was officially non-partisan, but all three major candidates were members of the Democratic Party.

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Endorsements

Jim Strickland
  • Mark Billingsley, Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • Reginald Milton, Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • Van Turner, Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • Willie Brooks, Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • Brandon Garrott Morrison, Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • Edmund Ford Jr., Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • Michael Whaley, Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • Mickell Lowery, Shelby County Commissioner [13]
  • The Commercial Appeal, Memphis' largest newspaper [14]
W.W. Herenton
  • AFSCME Local 1733 [15]
  • IBEW Local 1288 [15]
  • Memphis Fire Fighters Association [15]
  • Memphis Police Association [15]
Tami Sawyer

Campaign

Jim Strickland was elected in 2015, defeating incumbent mayor A C Wharton and becoming the first white mayor of Memphis in more than two decades. His first term was marked by a focus on economic development, the removal of Confederate statues in the city's downtown, and controversy over the police department monitoring Black Lives Matter activists. [19] [20]

Strickland emphasized job growth and an increase in the number of police officers on the Memphis Police Department, while Willie Herenton and Tami Sawyer criticized the city's crime rate. Sawyer emphasized a generational change in leadership and her activism surrounding the removal of Confederate statues in 2017. [21] [22] Strickland was seen as the candidate of the city's business class and those satisfied with the direction of Memphis, while Sawyer relied on a base of young progressive voters and Herenton's base was largely made up of older black voters. [21]

Herenton dismissed Sawyer as "a distraction" in response to concerns that she and Herenton would split the black vote; Sawyer responded by calling Herenton a "misogynist."

Sawyer faced criticism for an old tweet that was posted to Reddit in which she ridiculed a Memphis resident for crying over their recently euthanized dog. [23] In mid-September 2019, further controversial tweets were unearthed from Sawyer's Twitter account, including one where Sawyer seemingly gloats about outing a closeted lesbian teacher. [24]

Throughout the campaign, Strickland led in fundraising and advertising, and he was the only candidate to air television or radio ads.

Results

The election resulted in a decisive victory for incumbent mayor Jim Strickland, who was re-elected to a second term in office with 62.1% of the vote.

Memphis mayoral election, 2019
CandidateVotes%
Jim Strickland59,88662.11%
W.W. Herenton27,69428.72%
Tami Sawyer6,6666.91%
Lemichael Wilson3050.32%
Other1,8741.94%
Total96,425100.00%

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Turnout | Shelby County Election Commission, TN". www.electionsshelbytn.gov. Retrieved 2024-01-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jackson Baker (September 27, 2018). "Herenton and Others Look to Challenge for Mayor". Memphis Flyer . Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  3. ↑ Janice Broach (September 12, 2018). "Willie Herenton officially running for Memphis mayor in 2019". WMC. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  4. ↑ Jackson Baker (March 16, 2018). "Memphis Political Intrigue Arises". Memphis Flyer . Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Tami Sawyer — Linkedin".
  6. ↑ Tami Sawyer for Mayor (2019-03-07), We Can't Wait: Tami Sawyer Announcement Video , retrieved 2019-03-07
  7. ↑ "Tami Sawyer announces run for Memphis mayor in 2019". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  8. 1 2 Kendall Downing (April 6, 2018). "Strickland not ready to commit to facing Herenton in 2019 election". WMC. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  9. ↑ Brad Broders (April 6, 2018). "Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland On Willie Herenton's 2019 Memphis Mayoral Run". Local Memphis. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Mayor Jim Strickland announces re-election bid". WREG.com. 2019-01-15. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  11. ↑ Ryan Poe (September 5, 2018). "The 9:01: Memphis matters — and statewide candidates should take note". Memphis Commercial Appeal. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  12. ↑ Staff, WMCActionNews5 com. "Memphis Police Association President defends endorsing mayor candidate Willie Herenton". www.wmcactionnews5.com. Retrieved 2019-07-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Proud that 8 of the 10 County... - Friends of Jim Strickland". Facebook. 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  14. ↑ "Memphis mayor race: Commercial Appeal endorses Jim Strickland" . The Commercial Appeal. September 19, 2019. The CA gives its unqualified endorsement to incumbent Jim Strickland in the Memphis mayoral race.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "Get Access". Commercialappeal.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  16. ↑ "Two Memphis candidates for mayor have education backgrounds. Here's what you should know". Chalkbeat . Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  17. ↑ "Memphis-Midsouth DSA endorses... - Memphis-Midsouth DSA". Facebook . Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  18. ↑ Published 2:34 p.m. CT Aug. 26, 2019 (2019-08-26). "Hillary Clinton tweets support to Memphis mayor candidate Tami Sawyer". Commercialappeal.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ Baker, Jackson (2018-09-03). "The First 1000 Days of Jim Strickland". Memphis magazine. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  20. ↑ Mock, Brentin (July 27, 2018). "Memphis Police Spying on Activists Is Worse Than We Thought". CityLab. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  21. 1 2 "City campaigns move through last weekend before early voting". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  22. ↑ Scott, Reed. "Sawyer, Strickland, Herenton, others set to face off in Memphis Mayoral election". The Daily Helmsman . Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  23. ↑ "Well, she won't win the nomination". Reddit. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  24. ↑ "Sanford: Sawyer's hurtful words come back to hurt her". The Daily Memphian. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
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