FAST FACTS:
Candidates in Memphis Mayoral debate, Wharton, Lowery, Whalum, Chumney. Special Mayoral Election October 15th. Winner of election will hold office until next election in 2011.
(Memphis 10/14/2009) This was vacation week for me.
Back in January I set this week aside for possible fun in the sun in some exotic tropical location. The only tropical location I'll be in on October 15th is if I get some Hawaiian Punch at a campaign headquarters.
Thank former Mayor Willie Herenton for all the confusion. He decided to retire from office this past summer, to prepare for a run against incumbent 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen. So a total of 25 people ended up being on the ballot for the special election for Memphis Mayor.
25 candidates is unusual. The tone of this campaign has been unusual. It's been clean, very little mudslinging. In Memphis, mudslinging in politics is as common as humidity in August. Not this time. And when the candidates got together for the last big debate of the season...Mayor Pro-tem Myron Lowery even thanked his opponents for running such a clean, issues oriented campaign.
The final debate was between Lowery, Carol Chumney, A C Wharton and Reverend Kenneth Whalum, Jr. It would be the last time that voters could watch candidates as they answered various questions about what they would do if they became Mayor.
For the most part, the good behavior of this campaign carried through this debate. For the most part. Right up until the segment where the candidates were allowed to ask questions of each other. Carol Chumney wanted to know whether A C Wharton would collect his pension as Shelby County Mayor, and his salary as City Mayor if elected. Wharton said he had no idea how much that would be, but then launched his first attack on Chumney. He said Chumney was ineffective as a city councilwoman because she just "stood off to the side" and proposed ideas while not working with others. " That's not how you lead," Wharton said. Chumney has said it was she who led the way in changing city pension plans. It used to be if a city employee worked 12 years, he or she could get their full pension. Wharton said "...by the way, Ms.Chumney, you've been saying it was your leadership that changed things. It was Scott McCormick, not you." McCormick was the one who changed the pension by the way.
A C Wharton has been the leader in virtually every poll taken in this race. In fact, in the most recent WREG Mason/Dixon Poll, Wharton's lead increased to more than 50 percent. The other candidates made appeals to voters that their vote mattered, and that upsets could happen.
Candidates in Memphis Mayoral debate, Wharton, Lowery, Whalum, Chumney. Special Mayoral Election October 15th. Winner of election will hold office until next election in 2011.
(Memphis 10/14/2009) This was vacation week for me.
Back in January I set this week aside for possible fun in the sun in some exotic tropical location. The only tropical location I'll be in on October 15th is if I get some Hawaiian Punch at a campaign headquarters.
Thank former Mayor Willie Herenton for all the confusion. He decided to retire from office this past summer, to prepare for a run against incumbent 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen. So a total of 25 people ended up being on the ballot for the special election for Memphis Mayor.
25 candidates is unusual. The tone of this campaign has been unusual. It's been clean, very little mudslinging. In Memphis, mudslinging in politics is as common as humidity in August. Not this time. And when the candidates got together for the last big debate of the season...Mayor Pro-tem Myron Lowery even thanked his opponents for running such a clean, issues oriented campaign.
The final debate was between Lowery, Carol Chumney, A C Wharton and Reverend Kenneth Whalum, Jr. It would be the last time that voters could watch candidates as they answered various questions about what they would do if they became Mayor.
For the most part, the good behavior of this campaign carried through this debate. For the most part. Right up until the segment where the candidates were allowed to ask questions of each other. Carol Chumney wanted to know whether A C Wharton would collect his pension as Shelby County Mayor, and his salary as City Mayor if elected. Wharton said he had no idea how much that would be, but then launched his first attack on Chumney. He said Chumney was ineffective as a city councilwoman because she just "stood off to the side" and proposed ideas while not working with others. " That's not how you lead," Wharton said. Chumney has said it was she who led the way in changing city pension plans. It used to be if a city employee worked 12 years, he or she could get their full pension. Wharton said "...by the way, Ms.Chumney, you've been saying it was your leadership that changed things. It was Scott McCormick, not you." McCormick was the one who changed the pension by the way.
A C Wharton has been the leader in virtually every poll taken in this race. In fact, in the most recent WREG Mason/Dixon Poll, Wharton's lead increased to more than 50 percent. The other candidates made appeals to voters that their vote mattered, and that upsets could happen.
