Posted on 10/04/2007 4:05:40 AM PDT by Sybeck1
Memphis voters go to the polls today to decide who will lead the city through 2011, capping one of the city's most racially polarized mayoral campaigns.
In addition to the mayor, voters also will cast ballots for City Court clerk and all 13 City Council positions.
Seven of the council seats have no incumbents in the race and two others have incumbents appointed just this year.
Willie Herenton, the first elected black mayor of Memphis, is trying to win a record fifth term. He has been running on a platform of continuing progress.
His chief opponents, Councilwoman Carol Chumney and former Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division CEO Herman Morris, have campaigned on the theme of change.
Many political observers say this election will be a referendum on the incumbent, as voter discontent -- particularly among white voters -- has soared to an all-time high.
Herenton holds a five-point advantage over Morris and Chumney, according to the most recent Commercial Appeal poll published Sunday.
But with just 24 percent voter support for Herenton and nearly as many undecided voters, pollsters say it's still anybody's game.
Since a runoff is not allowed, it doesn't take a majority of the votes to win the mayor's election -- the candidate with the most votes wins. The same goes for City Council Super Districts 8 and 9.
Runoffs are allowed, however, in council Districts 1 through 7. If no one gains a majority, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff Nov. 8.
Candidates spent Wednesday knocking on doors, waving signs at busy intersections and trekking around town for last-minute meet-and-greets.
"We've been walking so much I have a blister," Morris said, as he made his last campaign push through neighborhoods in Raleigh and East Memphis.
Chumney spent the day at grocery stores, bus transfer stops, restaurants and on radio shows, trying to "connect with as many voters as I can and tell them this is a very close election," she said after arriving at the Piggly Wiggly on Madison.
Herenton stayed put, deciding instead to wave at the afternoon rush-hour drivers at Mt. Moriah and Mendenhall.
"There's been so much publicity surrounding this election that we're not doing a real blitz," said Herenton campaign manager Charles Carpenter. "We feel like at this time that people have made up their minds and we just want to encourage them to vote."
A record 74,288 Memphians voted during the early voting period, representing about 17percent of the city's 428,984 registered voters.
Shelby County Election Commissioner O. C. Pleasant doesn't believe the heavy early turnout will translate into an larger overall turnout.
"Granted, there is a lot of emotion surrounding the mayor's race and there are a lot of people who are really hot under the collar, so to speak, but truth of matter I don't see more than 40 percent," he said.
That's about equal to the turnout in 1999 when Herenton beat back Joe Ford and 13 other challengers, including pro wrestler Jerry Lawler. But it's nowhere near the 1991 contest between Herenton and Dick Hackett that propelled 65 percent of voters to the polls.
Pleasant said this year's early vote simply suggests that more people are voting sooner rather than later. "I think that other elections have substantiated that."
Significant, too, is the apparent surge in early voting among white voters.
According to the Election Commission, 33,864 of early voters identified themselves as black (45.6 percent), 25,461 as white (34.3 percent) and 14,963 as other. Though more black voters went to the polls early -- there are more black voters in Memphis -- a larger percentage of white voters participated early.
In the 10 precincts with the most white votes during the 2003 municipal election, 7,073 white voters cast ballots. In early voting this year, 5,689 white votes came from those same precincts, representing 80 percent of the 2003 total.
Conversely, in the 10 precincts with the most black votes in 2003, 8,547 black voters cast ballots. In this year's early voting, 4,912 black votes were cast in those same precincts, accounting for 57 percent of the 2003 total.
Last day to vote
Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Jacinthia Jones: 529-2780
Reporters Michael Erskine and Zach McMillin contributed to this story.
Ford Sr. won't say if he backs mayor
Former congressman Harold Ford Sr. said he never intended to appear at a political rally Tuesday for incumbent Mayor Willie Herenton.
Details
Despite e-mails from Herenton's campaign that promised Ford's presence at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, Ford said Wednesday he never committed to Herenton's invitation.
"I didn't say I was coming," Ford said. "I said I'd like to consider it. I've stayed out of the mayor's race, and I did not think it would be appropriate for me to get into the mayor's race."
Asked if he supports Herenton's candidacy for a historic fifth term, Ford answered: "I can't go there."
Ford also declined to say which mayoral candidate he picked when he participated in early voting.
- Trevor Aaronson
The Fords support Willie Herenton? I’m guessing if he wins, it will prove Memphis voters are still happy to remain enablers and victims, of Ford Family corruption.
Check the obits for the last 6 months and see who is voting!!
Is this a real election or one of those where you pick a) the leftist, b) the communist or c) the anti American democrat?
John Willingham (R) supports a city income tax.
He’s registered as a Floridian to take avantage of the Homestead Act for home ownership.
Yup, that will guarantee Willie's reelection.
I suppose my vote was wasted. It did not go to any of the top three. I could not bring myself to vote for any of them. My wife will be voting for Morris later today.
Our new Mayor in Nashville (Karl Marx Dean) may end up making King Willie look like Reagan. A pro-criminal Socialist.
If Willingham would have dropped out that might have been enough
That’s true!
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