3 vie for Democratic nomination to represent District 11 on Shelby County Board of Commissioners
Where and what is District 11?
Shelby County Commission District 11 stretches from Airways Boulevard to Hickory Hill Road and encompasses sections of Fox Meadows, Hickory Hill, Oakhaven, Parkway Village and Whitehaven.
Losing just over 2,000 people between 2010 and 2020, the district now has a population of slightly more than 70,000 people. Three candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination for the position, and the winner will likely run unopposed in the general election.
The county primary is May 3, with early voting from April 13 through April 28. The general election is Aug. 4.
Who are the candidates; what are their platforms?
Miska Clay Bibbs is a current member of the Shelby County Board of Education and the chief of staff at Teach For America in Memphis. Born and raised in Memphis, Clay Bibbs first considered running for commissioner during the pandemic, when she noticed how much schools were the center of her community.
“I noticed how much the infrastructure is not what it should be in our town, in our city, that was kind of fuel to my fire around ‘what can I do in order to strengthen our community?'” Clay Bibbs said. “My tagline is ‘Strengthen 11 together,' because we are a solid community, but just need some additional support in order to get us back to where we need to be.”
Candice Jones is a community activist who is currently opening her own marketing company. Born and raised in Memphis, Jones has never run for or held political office but has held positions in the Shelby County Democratic Party. Jones' campaign places an emphasis on increasing school funding and economic development. “I always wanted to run because I've always wanted to change my community,” Jones said. “I feel like we need a new vision and a new outlook and I think I bring the energy and commitment to the role. I think I have a lot of relationships that exist already in government and politics that would make it a somewhat easier job for me to do.”
Eric Winston is the senior pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in South Memphis. He previously ran for the District 11 Shelby County Commission seat in 2018, losing to the incumbent Eddie Jones in the primary. Jones went on to win the general election uncontested, but cannot run in 2022 due to term limits.
“I want to see a decrease in crime, I want to see an increase in education and educational availability, I want to see an increase in healthcare assessment and caring about this community, addressing issues that really stifle this community like breast cancer, to name just one of them,” Winston said. “And I just want to help our people in our area develop more businesses and be more economically minded.”
Gina Butkovich covers Desoto County, storytelling and general news. She can be reached at 901-232-6714 or on Twitter @gigibutko.