Lee Harris | |
---|---|
7th Mayor of Shelby County | |
Assumed office September 1, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Mark Luttrell |
Minority Leader of the Tennessee Senate | |
In office January 13,2015 –August 31,2018 | |
Preceded by | Jim Kyle |
Succeeded by | Jeff Yarbro |
Member of the Tennessee Senate from the 29th district | |
In office January 13,2015 –August 31,2018 | |
Preceded by | Ophelia Ford |
Succeeded by | Raumesh Akbari |
Member of the Memphis City Council from the 7th district | |
In office 2011–2015 | |
Preceded by | Berlin Boyd |
Succeeded by | Berlin Boyd |
Personal details | |
Born | Memphis,Tennessee,U.S. | August 10,1978
Political party | Democratic |
Education | Morehouse College (BA) Yale University (JD) |
Lee Ardrey Harris (born August 10,1978) is an American politician who currently serves as the Mayor of Shelby County,previously serving as a member of the Tennessee Senate,representing the 29th district. Harris is also a law professor. Prior to his election to the state senate,Harris represented District 7 on the Memphis City Council. He was born and raised in Memphis,and studied at Morehouse College,followed by Yale Law School. [1]
In 2014,he was elected to the Tennessee Senate to replace Ophelia Ford. He was elected in November 2014 by the Democratic Senate Caucus of the Tennessee State Senate to the leadership position of Senate Minority Leader. He is the first black lawmaker of either party to hold a leadership position in the Tennessee State Senate. [2] In 2018,Harris was the Democratic nominee for Mayor of Shelby County,defeating Republican David Lenoir. [3] [4] He was re-elected to a second term in 2022. [5]
Harris was born and raised in Memphis,Tennessee. He is the son of a retired high school guidance counselor and a heating and air conditioning repairman. He attended Memphis city schools,including Alcy Elementary School,John P. Freeman Middle School,and Overton High School. [6] Harris attended Morehouse College on a full scholarship,graduating in 2000. While at Morehouse,Harris completed a one-year course of study at the London School of Economics. He graduated from Yale Law School in 2003. [7]
Harris began his legal career as an associate at Baker,Donelson,Bearman,Caldwell &Berkowitz,a Memphis law firm. In 2003,Harris began teaching at the University of Memphis,School of Law,attaining tenure in 2009. Harris teaches and publishes in the fields of corporate law.
In 2006,Harris unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for Tennessee's 9th congressional district. [8]
In 2011,Harris faced Kemba Ford in a runoff election for Memphis City Council. He won the race with more than 60% of the vote.
On April 3,2014,Harris announced his intention to contest a Tennessee State Senate District 29 seat currently held by state Senator Ophelia Ford. [9] Harris was elected to the seat and was sworn in in January 2015. He was elected by his colleagues in the Democratic Caucus of the Tennessee State Senate to be Senate Minority Leader for the session. He is the first black lawmaker of either party to hold a leadership position in the Tennessee State Senate. [2]
In 2018,Harris was the Democratic nominee for Shelby County Mayor. He won the general election,defeating Republican Shelby County Trustee David Lenoir 55-45%. Harris' campaign emphasized reducing poverty and expanding education,including access to jobs training and apprenticeships. [10] During his first term,Harris raised the minimum wage for Shelby County employees and oversaw the county's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also increased funding for early childhood education and created a paid parental leave program for county employees. [5]
Harris ran for re-election in 2022. He faced Republican Worth Morgan,a member of the Memphis City Council. The campaign centered around the county's crime rate and health care infrastructure. Harris defeated Morgan 58-42% [5]
Harris was a proponent of an October 16,2012,amendment to Memphis' anti-discrimination ordinance,which prohibits the City of Memphis from discriminating on the basis of age,disability,national origin,ethnicity,gender identity,and sexual orientation. [11]
Shelby County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 929,744. It is the largest of the state's 95 counties, both in terms of population and geographic area. Its county seat is Memphis, a port on the Mississippi River and the second most populous city in the state. The county was named for Governor Isaac Shelby (1750–1826) of Kentucky. It is one of only two remaining counties in Tennessee with a majority African American population, along with Haywood County. Shelby County is part of the Memphis, TN–MS–AR Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. Located within the Mississippi Delta, the county was developed as a center of cotton plantations in the antebellum era, and cotton continued as an important commodity crop well into the 20th century. The economy has become more diversified.
Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20th century, during which the city had a commission form of government. He also usually dominated Tennessee politics from the 1920s to the 1940s. He was elected and served as mayor of Memphis from 1910 to 1915 and again briefly in 1940. However, he effectively appointed every mayor who was elected from 1915 to 1954.
John Newton Ford, is a former Democratic member of the Tennessee State Senate and a member of Tennessee's most prominent African-American political family. He is the older brother of former U.S. Representative Harold Ford, Sr. and the uncle of former Tennessee U.S. Representative and 2006 United States Senate candidate Harold Ford, Jr.
Ophelia Ford is a former member of the Tennessee Senate. She is the younger sister of former state senator John Ford and former Congressman Harold Ford, Sr., and the aunt of former Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. She represented Senate District 29, which covers South Memphis and North Memphis.
Tennessee's 9th congressional district is a congressional district in West Tennessee. It has been represented by Democrat Steve Cohen since 2007.
The 2006 congressional elections in Tennessee was held on November 7, 2006, to determine who will represent the state of Tennessee in the United States House of Representatives.
Memphis, Tennessee is governed by a mayor and thirteen city council members. Since 1995, as a result of a legal challenge, all council members are elected from nine geographic districts. Seven are single-member districts and two have three representatives each.
A C Wharton Jr. is an American educator, politician, and attorney who served as the 63rd mayor of Memphis, Tennessee and previously mayor of Shelby County. He was the first African American to serve as mayor of Shelby County.
The 2015 Memphis mayoral election took place on October 8, 2015, to elect the next mayor of Memphis, Tennessee. Incumbent Democratic Mayor A C Wharton ran for re-election to a second full term in office. He was defeated by Memphis City Councilman Jim Strickland, a fellow Democrat, who earned a plurality of the vote and became the first White mayor of Memphis in more than two decades.
The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee was held on November 8, 2016, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state of Tennessee, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including President of the United States. The primaries were held on August 4.
Steven J. Mulroy is the District Attorney of Shelby County, Tennessee. Previously, he was a University of Memphis law professor who served on the County Commission for Shelby County, Tennessee from District 5 from 2006 to 2014. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he spent his high school years living in Gulf Breeze, Florida and studied at Cornell University, followed by William & Mary Law School. A member of the Democratic Party, his 2006 election to the Memphis-area County Commission seat shifted the balance of power from Republican to Democratic for the first time in the county's history.
The Ford family is a family of African-American politicians from Memphis, Tennessee in the United States. Below is a list of members of the Tennessee-based political family:
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.
The 2022 Tennessee gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Tennessee, alongside other state and local elections. Incumbent Republican governor Bill Lee was re-elected to a second term with 64.9% of the vote, defeating his Democratic challenger Jason Martin. Lee improved on his performance from 2018.
Tom Leatherwood is an American politician serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives from Tennessee's 99th house district, since 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. The 99th district includes the Northeast part of Shelby County, Tennessee, including the Town of Arlington, City of Lakeland, City of Millington, parts of North and East Bartlett, and unincorporated Northeast Shelby County.
The Byhalia Pipeline, also referred to as the Byhalia Connection Pipeline, was a proposed 49-mile crude oil pipeline project in Memphis, Tennessee. Proposed by two companies, Plains All American Pipeline and Valero Energy, it was canceled in July 2021 after months of activism and resistance from organizations including Memphis Community Against the Pipeline (MCAP), Protect Our Aquifer, the Memphis and Mid-South Chapter of The Climate Reality Project, and other partnered organizations. Opposition to the pipeline was based primarily around impact concerns for the Memphis drinking water aquifer below the intended pipeline location that supplies drinking water to approximately 1 million people. Plans for the Byhalia Connection pipeline project were called off after a statement from Plains All American Pipeline director of communications that the project was no longer being pursued "primarily due to lower U.S. oil production resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic".
The 2023 Memphis mayoral election took place on October 5, 2023, to elect the next mayor of Memphis, Tennessee. Incumbent Jim Strickland was term-limited and could not seek re-election to a third term in office. The election used the plurality vote system, with no possibility of a runoff. The election was officially non-partisan, but several candidates were affiliated with political parties.
Tennessee state elections in 2022 were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. Primary elections for the United States House of Representatives, governorship, Tennessee Senate, and Tennessee House of Representatives, as well as various judicial retention elections, including elections for all five Tennessee Supreme Court justices as well as general local elections, were held on August 4, 2022. There were also four constitutional amendments to the Constitution of Tennessee on the November 8 ballot.
Tennessee state elections in 2018 were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Primary elections for the United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, governorship, Tennessee Senate, Tennessee House of Representatives, as well as general local elections were held on August 2, 2018.
The 2018 Shelby County mayoral election was held on August 2, 2018, to elect the next mayor of Shelby County, Tennessee. Incumbent Republican Mayor Mark Luttrell was term-limited and was prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term, he instead ran for congress. Democratic candidate Lee Harris was elected mayor with 55.3% of the vote, defeating Republican nominee David Lenoir.