By Tony Jones
MEMPHIS, TN — In a surprisingly swift conclusion, Memphis voters chose Downtown Commission president and CEO Paul Young as the city’s next mayor, following Young’s victory, the Shelby County Election Commission (SCEC) announced that keys to several ballot boxes had been stolen from an SCEC employee’s car, but assured the city that the theft will not alter the election results.
SCEC notified media, “We regret that an election worker’s car was recently victimized. Thankfully, she remained safe, the incident happened away from our offices and polling locations, and the complete integrity of the October 5th election remained in place and without compromise.”
“Further, our systems have layers of protection, so any unauthorized use of election keys, codes, or anything else, would be immediately flagged through our system should they ever wind up in the wrong hands.”
The keys were later found close to the smash and grab’s location, and MPD said 18-year-old Mardarious Boyce was arrested for it, which included $1,200 in cash.
The news did nothing to dampen the energy of Young’s victory. From a field of 17 candidates, he garnered 24,408 votes, runner up Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner 19,885, frontrunners former mayor Dr. W.W. Herenton 18,990, and NAACP President Van Turner 18,778.
The low turnout defied the political tea leaves. Early voting numbers were robust, but Election Day turnout was pitiful in comparison.
A Thursday, Nov. 16th runoff has been scheduled for three city council races to close to call: District 2, between Scott McCormick and Jerri Green; District 3 between Pearl Walker and James Kirkwood; and District 7 between incumbent Michalyn Easter-Thomas and Jimmy Hasson.
Though a political novice, Young’s passionate messaging was apparent from the start of the campaign via a well executed e-mail statement outlining more than two dozen topics presenting his views.
He was also the top fundraiser, reporting $760,678.31 from a donor base his website states garnered “more individual contributions than every other candidate combined.”
His stump skills yielded results early. Said Rev. Earle Fisher, a chief organizer of the Memphis People’s Convention, “We expected at the offset that the Memphis People’s Convention could set the tone for the profiling of those who were most viable in this election. We do not find it ironic that two of the top 4 candidates (based upon most of the polling) have been Paul Young and Van Turner (both participants in the convention).”
Several other indicators and smart moves led to Young’s victory. At the many forums leading up to election day, Young’s best asset came forth as representing the newer generation willing to challenge the “brain drain” many say lead black brain trust professionals away from the city. “They want to write us off,” he repeated, vowing to attract and keep more black and young talent in the city.
At first tepid as the rest, in the final heat Young’s message on crime tapped into a dormant bluntness many in the black community had been waiting on and some say was the key to Herenton’s base of support.
In another smart move, the morning after the election he started his media tour on WDIA’s Stan Bell show, a perfect bellwether of grassroots sentiment, where he cut no corners in stating cleaning up the streets would be his first priority. Bell also pointed out a great commercial featuring Young’s mother Rev. Dianne Young speaking a very direct endorsement that was widely appreciated.
Overall, Young presented himself as a sincere, competent and passionate representative of the new black political set finally distancing the city’s civic map from nepotism. In political terms, he was a relative unknown at the start of the campaign. He now represents the city’s immediate future direction.
Long time political activist and historian Dell Gill sums it all up, “It’s unfortunate he didn’t win with mandate numbers, but that was expected due to the number of candidates, but he won it fair and square. I think it’s a passing of the baton. I’m in full support of him. I knew his father Rev. William Young very well and has the opportunity to be great. He just has to seize the opportunity to be great. I expect him to do well.”
