Category: Elections

Welcome to our official Shelby County primary voter guide coverage. For the first time, we’re endorsing in the Sheriff’s race. We don’t take that lightly – especially for an office we’ve been pushing to change for years.

We’re endorsing Anthony Buckner for Shelby County Sheriff.

We want to be clear and transparent about what that means. Buckner has served as Chief Deputy under the current administration, which is the same office we’ve been vocal in criticizing. People have died in custody. The conditions inside 201 Poplar have been dangerous and documented. This endorsement doesn’t erase that record or excuse it.

What it reflects is our judgment that Buckner is the candidate most able to change how this institution operates – in part because he knows how it operates. He’s committed to improving jail conditions, expanding diversion, reducing unnecessary incarceration, and building real transparency into how this office reports to the public.

We paid particular attention to where he stands on immigration enforcement, because our community deserves a Sheriff who is clear about that. We had direct conversations with him about the specific policies and commitments we want to see from this office, and we came away with greater confidence that he understands what’s at stake for immigrant families in Shelby County and is willing to be held to concrete expectations. As state and federal pressure on local law enforcement continues to grow, he’s committed to being transparent with our community about what the law requires and to pushing for every protection within it.

This is the beginning of a working relationship, and we hold it with some tension. We’re choosing to invest in what this office could become, not what it has been. This is not a blank check. It’s a commitment to work together to hold this office accountable to what Shelby County residents deserve.

We’re endorsing JB Smiley, Jr. for Shelby County Mayor.

Shelby County’s next mayor will inherit a community at a crossroads – and an office with real power to shape which direction we go. The mayor controls the county budget, stewards our most critical public infrastructure, manages the Division of Corrections and the youth detention center, oversees the pretrial mental health facility for justice-involved adults, and holds the contracts that determine conditions inside our jails. That’s a lot of power over a lot of lives, and this election will determine whose hands it sits in.

Smiley is the progressive choice in this race. And for us, that means more than a set of positions. It means a candidate who understands that progress has to actually reach people. 

He’s been clear that the county’s infrastructure crisis is urgent: aging school buildings that send the wrong message to the students inside them, a jail in dangerous disrepair, and a public hospital (Regional One) that serves as the safety net for our most vulnerable residents and can’t be allowed to fail. He’s committed to treating these as immediate priorities, not long-term planning exercises.

On public safety, he sees the county’s role as one of coordination and prevention: funding mental health support, expanding opportunity for young people, and ensuring the systems meant to protect our communities actually do. On reentry, he’s committed to starting the process before someone walks out the door, not after. On immigration, he’s pushed back on military deployment in Memphis and committed to an approach rooted in community trust rather than federal enforcement pressure.

We need a mayor who shows up for the whole county – especially for those who have been most left behind. That’s what we’re investing in with JB Smiley, Jr.

As we come out of this challenging election, we must take care of ourselves, our families, our communities, and each other. In this Memphis post-election reflection, we look at our wins, share upcoming events for rest, and debrief the intensity of this election season.

That’s why before we even knew what the results might be, we joined with partners to create the Post-Election Restoration Station for November 6th.  People of all ages and backgrounds came together to support one another and process what we’ve all been through with this election. It was a powerful reminder that rest, relaxation, and care are necessary for us to continue the ongoing work of bending the moral arc of the universe towards justice.

After we’ve breathed and relaxed, we reflect. We reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we have to go. We don’t know for sure what the Trump presidency will bring, but the likelihood that it will harm or endanger people and communities we care about is high. Let the anger, fear, anxiety swell, and then take action with the spirit of our history that shows the resiliency of our democracy and Black and Brown communities.

Hope isn’t just an emotion – it’s an action. 

Even though the election results revealed the challenges we know all too well, we’re also reminded of the strength of our people, the power of our movement towards justice, and our unwavering commitment to progress and beloved community. We are more resolved than ever to keep moving forward towards the brighter future we know is possible.

Far from weakening our resolve, this election has sharpened our focus on the critical importance of local action. Now, more than ever, we must be clear, bold, and hold our elected officials and leaders accountable. 

“All politics is local,” never rang more true! 

If we can’t be sure whether the state or federal government will care for, support, and develop our people and communities, we have to push our local leaders to follow bold agendas supported by moral budgets. We must plan, strategize, organize, advocate, collaborate, engage, support, and hold accountable.

For Memphis, we saw what’s possible when strong leadership provides voters the opportunity to express their will for government. With the referendums on the ballot, we asked Memphis to Vote Yes For Safety and Democracy, and we won:

• Memphis gave overwhelming support for all three gun safety referendums, sending a resounding message about what our community needs to feel safe. A majority of the City Council stood strong against threats from state legislators to express the will of the people of Memphis and set a model that we hope other TN cities will follow. While not binding, it’s a crack in the dam of the gun lobby and NRA that exercises dangerous power over the State Legislature holding back sensible, meaningful gun laws.
  
• We made sure that future mayoral candidates must earn a majority of the vote and will be required to have lived in Memphis for at least two years. We further strengthened our local democracy by bringing more transparency and public accountability to the City Council’s salary-setting process. 

“Social movements have the ability to see beyond today’s horizon, and have to have the stamina to work for social change. With social movements, everything is possible; without them, nothing is possible.” — Angela Davis

This is our call to action. The challenges ahead are significant, but they only strengthen our determination to change the narrative on safety and justice, pass a Moral Budget that invests in Memphis’ & Shelby County’s people and communities, and ensure our children are set up to not only succeed in school, but to thrive beyond those four walls. 

The future we envision – one that’s brighter and more just for our children, ourselves, and each other – is possible. But it requires all of us to stay engaged, support one another, and join in the vital work that must be expanded and connected in our communities.

There is power in the people – and that power continues to grow right here, with each of us, working together. Let’s continue to be the light so we can navigate the times ahead. 

Take a breath with us – breathe in…breathe out…breathe in…breathe out…

Now, do something!

In solidarity and active hope,

Cardell, Aerris, Sharmeen, and Makenzie

We want to extend a sincere congratulations to Mayor-Elect Paul Young on winning a tough election with a crowded field of candidates. After a hard-fought race, we look forward to coming together and finding alignment on our shared goals of bringing a brighter future to the Memphis we all love. 

As the mayoral race got underway, we understood that we were engaged in a fight for the future of Memphis. This election season held immense significance, as it determined the trajectory of our city – whether we would move Memphis forward towards a future where ALL communities have what they need to live a dignified life; or whether we would succumb to stagnation and continue pushing the status quo that over-criminalizes and leaves many of our people behind. 

Local offices, like the Mayor and City Council, are the offices that will most directly and immediately impact the lives of everyday Memphians. But the further we get from national and presidential politics, the lower voter engagement and turnout tends to be. Recognizing this trend, we made the conscious decision to invest heavily in this election so we could provide information and recommendations to voters and supporters–both in terms of which candidates were the most and least fit to become the next mayor. 

When we began this fight for Memphis, we used a rigorous endorsement process with a committed team of representative community members  to vet the candidates. Through this process, we identified certain individuals who we believed should not lead our city. In that regard, we saw real wins: through public communications and voter outreach, we helped thwart what could have been a detrimental outcome by preventing Sheriff Bonner or former Mayor Herenton from becoming mayor. This, in itself, is a win in the fight for Memphis.

Van Turner emerged from our endorsement process as the candidate with the strongest track record who most closely aligned with our values of investing in people and communities, improving the lives of youth and families, and creating sustainable policies and holistic solutions that address poverty as the real root of crime. He took a stand in this election, and we commend him for his unwavering commitment to the people of Memphis. We express our gratitude to him for his courage and for running a race that supported the movement for change.

We will continue forward from where we left off, building upon the strong victories of this election cycle. It is a true triumph that the fear-mongering tactics and emphasis on crime and punitive justice so prominent in the Bonner and Strickland campaigns failed to prevail. Regrettably, these tactics seemed to have an impact in some of the City Council races, but we successfully averted the worst-case scenarios in the mayoral race. 

We stand in solidarity with the progressive elected officials who united behind Van Turner to support a new path forward for Memphis. Our hope has always been to build upon the successes of last year’s elections, which saw the victories of District Attorney Steve Mulroy, Mayor Lee Harris, and Juvenile Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon. The 2022 elections resulted in winning key allies for criminal justice, youth justice, and county leadership. We’re hopeful that Mayor-Elect Young will prove to be an ally in city leadership as we continue to advocate for our goals. 

I must extend a special thanks to Justin J. Pearson and the Movement for Justice team for their invaluable partnership in this fight for Memphis. Representative Pearson demonstrated a level of courage and risk-taking that is often rare among newly elected officials. He invested his time, energy, and resources into what he saw as the path forward for Memphis – one of the most critical decisions our city will make in the next decade. We must continue to work together, looking towards the future with determination and hope.

In our pursuit of progress, we will continue collaborating with our partners to engage voters, promote civic participation, and advocate for the values and principles that will shape Memphis into a city of inclusivity, justice, and prosperity. We remain committed to the fight for Memphis, recognizing that the journey towards transformation is not always straightforward but is always worthy of our dedication.

We look forward to joining with Mayor-Elect Paul Young in the fight for a healthier, safer, and more just Memphis during his tenure, and we will keep our focus on how we continue to progress towards our goals of achieving educational equity and racial justice.

The People for Fairness & Justice (PFJ) PAC has launched the Fight for Memphis campaign to engage voters around the upcoming mayoral election and secure the future Memphis deserves. Building on successful recent justice race victories, the nonpartisan campaign’s goal is to shape the race by elevating issues like justice, safety, opportunity and integrity.

This is a pivotal moment for Memphis, and this campaign is about fighting for the city we know is possible. We want to ensure voters have the information needed to move our city forward, not backward.

At the campaign’s website, FightForMemphis.com, people can sign up to support the effort and donate to the cause. In the coming weeks, the campaign will endorse a candidate who will lead Memphis into the future. The campaign will also discourage voting for candidates whose ideology and policies will continue stagnation, perpetuate the status quo, and contribute to Memphis’ challenges.

The campaign’s public debut is a digital advertising effort against Floyd Bonner, whose mismanagement of 201 Poplar during his tenure as Shelby County Sheriff led to deaths, illness, and dangerous working conditions for the staff. We can’t let 201’s crisis become 901’s future, so PFJ will share communications materials, volunteer resources, and candidate information to help voters choose a Mayor that will lead us to a brighter future. 

PFJ believes Memphis is ready to turn the page and write a new chapter. In addition to a digital advertising effort, Fight for Memphis will organize canvassing, phone banking, forums and other get-out-the-vote efforts in the months leading up to the October election. In the crowded field of 17 candidates, we intend to get out the vote for our endorsed candidate to help elect our next Mayor with a larger, more representative group of voters. 

This is about realizing the full potential of the city we love,. We encourage all residents who believe in Memphis to join the fight.

Representative Justin J. Pearson has shown us all that he’s ready to stand up for young people and bring Memphis’ voice to the Legislature, even in the face of immense opposition. After he and Rep. Justin Jones were unjustly expelled, Rep. Pearson continued to raise the consciousness of our state and country, even having the ear of the President and Vice President. 

We need Rep. Pearson’s voice in the upcoming special session and beyond to protect our children from gun violence, fight for restorative justice and mental health support in schools, and push anti-poverty legislation to prevent violence from occurring in the first place. We know he’ll keep elevating important Memphis issues on the state and national levels during his whole term, and we’re proud to officially endorse Rep. Justin J. Pearson for District 86!

I’ve worked for many years in politics, advocacy, and organizing in Memphis, and I can say that the accomplishments we’ve made in 2022 are some of the most proud moments that I’ve had. We defeated the worst District Attorney in the country. We supported a progressive DA to bring much needed change to our community. We elected the first African American Juvenile Court Judge–bringing change to that important office for the first time in over 60 years. And, in working with our partners and the community, we fundamentally transformed the opportunities that we have in this community for real justice and safety.

The fight to unseat former DA Amy Weirich began in 2021 when we convened local, state, and national partners to form the People for Fairness and Justice (PFJ) to elect a new Shelby County District Attorney and Juvenile Court Judge who would share our values of restorative justice, criminal justice reform, and reducing the incarcerated population. Within months of planning and convening, we built a strong coalition centered on trust and a shared commitment to bringing a change to Shelby County that would reverberate across the country.

We developed and ran a well-targeted, multi-layered campaign, complete with groundbreaking efforts in canvassing, phone and text banking, digital communications, mail, TV/radio ads, and even an endorsement from actor and rap artist Common! Thanks to your overwhelming support, our hard work paid off: Steve Mulroy won the DA’s race with 56% of the vote and Tarik Sugarmon won the Juvenile Court Judge’s race with 44% of the vote – two HUGE wins for Black and Brown youth and adults (and everyone else) in Shelby County!

This move away from the failed status quo rhetoric of punitive, “tough-on-crime” policies showed the entire country that we’re ready to lead the way in transforming justice in Shelby County. What’s more, you showed up and answered the call of our youth (not yet old enough to vote for themselves) to elect leaders who will keep young people’s best interests front and center over the next eight years and bring meaningful change to the youth justice system.

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for bringing a new day for justice and safety to Shelby County.

Stand For Children joined the Shelby County Voter Alliance to support the largest organized voter engagement effort in Shelby County history! Working with a coalition of organizations, we focused on registering and turning out voters across Memphis & Shelby County. If you’re a Stand supporter, you probably got one of our calls or texts.

With engagement from parents, volunteers, and 18 community partners, the Shelby County Voter Alliance registered 2,500 new voters and is now focusing on building the alliance to increase turnout for the 2022 local elections. Learn more at www.AllInShelby.com.

Read the article here.