Disavowed GOP candidate trails in early returns

Controversial candidate Keith Alexander trailed assessor’s office veteran Robert “Chip” Trouy with partial returns Tuesday night in the Republican primary for Assessor of Property.

Alexander‘s bid to repeat as Republican nominee for assessor, despite disclosure of ties to white supremacists, had injected uncertainty into the party’s attempt to take back the assessor’s office.

With early and absentee ballots counted and 125 of 166 precincts reporting, Alexander was trailing Trouy, a longtime assessor’s office employee, 13,311 to 8,067, or 62 percent to 38 percent, in the Republican primary.

Alexander, a lawyer and assessor’s office critic, cruised to the GOP nomination in 2014 by a two-to-one margin over his challenger. He fell short in the general election, picking up 41 percent of the vote or about 57,000 votes in a loss to Democrat Cheyenne Johnson.

But Alexander was disavowed Monday by Republican Party leadership.

County GOP chairman Lee Mills said Monday that Alexander wasn’t wanted in the party, but it would be up to Trouy to file a challenge if Alexander won. Alexander has said he doesn’t consider himself a right-wing extremist.

Alexander is a former member of the Council of Conservative Citizens, labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group. He was co-host as recently as December of a radio show that espouses such views.

In the Democratic primary for assessor, term-limited Shelby County Commissioner Melvin Burgess had a big lead over activist Lorie Ingram, who lists 15 years’ experience in the assessor’s office. Burgess led 18,037, or 68 percent, to Ingram’s 11,601, or 31 percent, with 125 of 166 precincts in.

The assessor’s office values real estate for tax purposes and oversees a countywide reappraisal every four years.The next reappraisal year is 2021.

Elsewhere, shakeups are coming in the Trustee, County Clerk and Register of Deeds offices, no matter who wins.

Five candidates, three Democrats and two Republicans, are vying for party nominations in the race to succeed David Lenoir, who is running for Shelby County mayor.

The Trustee is Shelby County’s banker and tax collector and overseer of invested tax money.

In the Republican primary, Shelby County Commissioner George Barnes Chism, a mortgage banker who can’t run for reelection as commissioner, led selfemployed certified public accountant Dexter L. Orman in early returns.

With 125 of 166 precincts in, Chism led 15,065, or 75 percent, to Orman’s 4,818, or 25 percent.

In the Democratic primary for Trustee, Regina Morrison Newman, an attorney, who was appointed to serve as trustee, but lost a 2010 bid to keep the job, was neck and neck in early returns with Joseph Lee III, a former chief financial officer in the Herenton administration and Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division chief executive. Trailing was Derrick Bennett, a CPA with a background as a Shelby County Health Department manager.

With 125 of 166 precincts in, it was Newman, 16,747, or 46 percent; Lee, 14,958, or 41 percent; and Bennett, 4,412, or 12 percent.

Vying for Shelby County Clerk are three candidates apiece in Republican and Democratic primaries.

The county clerk handles vehicle license renewals, business and marriage licenses, notary public commissions and liquor by the drink tax collections. Wayne Mashburn was term limited as clerk and is running for Register of Deeds.

The Republican candidates are Donna Creson, listed on LinkedIn as a business tax investigator with Shelby County government; Soheila N. Kail, whose experience is 23 years as a Shelby County employee, including 19 years as Shelby County Sheriff’s Office finance manager; and Arnold Weiner, a Republican activist and retired Tennessee Army National Guard member who has worked in Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk’s office.

With 125 of 166 precincts reporting at press deadline, it was Creson, 10,123, or 49 percent; Weiner, 6,007, or 29 percent; and Kail, 4,489, or 22 percent.

In the Democratic Primary, former City Council member and Memphis City Schools board member Wanda Halbert held a commanding lead. She was trailed by Jamal Whitlow, an entrepreneur who served on the now-defunct Beale Street Tourism Authority, and Mondell B. Williams.

With 125 of 166 precincts in, it was Halbert, 27,557, or 75 percent, Whitlow, 6,436, or 18 percent, and Williams, 2,731, or 7 percent.

Tom Leatherwood’s departure as Register of Deeds opens that race up for his fellow Republican Mashburn, who is running unopposed.

In early returns in the Democratic Primary for register, Shelandra Ford, a 20-year county employee whose Facebook page lists her as principal clerk in General Sessions Civil Court, was in a close race with Adrienne M. Pakis-Gillon, a veteran Democratic activist.

With 125 of 166 precincts in at press deadline, Ford had 18,281, or 52 percent to Pakis-Gillon’s 16,770, or 48 percent.

The Register of Deeds keeps records of property transactions and oversees the Shelby County Archives.