Shelby County Democrat chairman faces backlash over ‘name-calling’
The Tennessee Republican Party and its Shelby County arm condemned County Democratic Party chairman Corey Strong this week for calling local Republican candidates “demonstrably racist, homophobic, unethical and unqualified.”
Strong, who became chairman last August, posted the Facebook comment Saturday, a day after the Shelby County Election Commission angered Democrats by not agreeing to open all early voting locations on July 13. Strong said the decision would “disenfranchise” voters in inner-city Memphis, where voting sites open five days later.
“No matter what the Election Commission has done, the Democratic ticket needs 15k+ non-August Democrats to show up and moderate/suburban Dems to not cross over and vote for the demonstrably racist, homophobic, unethical and unqualified Republican nominees,” Strong wrote in the post, which was removed by Facebook for review. “There is no press release, lawsuit, or other protest that will get those voters to the poll. If you aren’t identifying your share of that 15k to get to the polls, then start NOW!”
In a response Tuesday, Tennessee Republican Party chairman Scott Golden called on the Tennessee Democratic Party to condemn Strong’s “name-calling and outright lying.”
“When it comes to divisive and harmful rhetoric, Tennesseans deserve better and voters deserve to know if the TNDP shares the views of their largest county’s chairman when he calls Republicans ‘demonstrably racist, homophobic, unethical, and unqualified,’” Golden said in a release.
Lee Mills, chairman of the Republican Party of Shelby County, whose wife Amber Mills is running for a Shelby County Commission seat, released a similar statement: “As usual, the Democrat Party leads the race to the bottom by name calling, labeling and outright lying about Republican candidates and their views.”
But Strong defended his comments Tuesday, saying Shelby County mayoral candidate David Lenoir had shown racism when he objected in an April forum to the way Memphis removed its Confederate monuments, and homophobia when Lenoir ran Centurion Investment Advisory Partners, a mutual fund making investments based on the Bible.
“He literally put money together to try to work against the — quote, unquote — ‘gay agenda,’” Strong said.
Lenoir, who faces Democratic Sen. Lee Harris in the Aug. 2 county general
election, responded with his own statement:
“I have zero tolerance for discrimination against any individual or group including race, gender or sexual orientation. I also have zero tolerance for any campaign or party leader who resorts to reckless name calling and trying to use race to divide our community. My actions and my administration over the eight years as your trustee is a reflection of how I will lead as your county mayor: open and inclusive.”
Strong said his “unethical” comment was directed at candidates who supported the Election Commission decision, while his “unqualified” comment was a reference to candidates like sheriff candidate Dale Lane, who “hasn’t worked in law enforcement” in years.
Lane was a Millington police officer, sheriff ’s deputy and chief inspector, and SWAT team commander before his appointment as director of the county Office of Preparedness under County Mayor Mark Luttrell.
Lane faces Democrat Floyd Bonner, chief deputy at the sheriff ’s office, in the general election, which doubles as the primary election for statewide offices and a special election to fill the Memphis City Council seat vacated by Philip Spinosa Jr.
The Tennessee Democratic Party chairwoman Mary Mancini released a statement in support of Strong and urging the Election Commission to open all early voting locations at the same time:
“When attempts to suppress specific segments of the voting population are this blatant and this egregious, you can’t blame Chairman Strong for defending the voters of Shelby County. The voter suppression at work by the Shelby County Election Commission is the real story — not Chairman Strong’s reaction to it.”
trying to use race to divide our community.” Shelby County mayoral candidate David Lenoir
Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercial appeal.com or on Twitter at @ryanpoe.