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Courting the ElectorateJudgment Day approaches for candidates in several heated judicial and clerk races.by Jackson Baker
Circuit Court, Division 3: Despite complaints from challenger Seymour Rosenberg and others that KAREN C. WILLIAMS*, formerly a respected legislator, has a habit of holding onto cases, the Memphis Bar Association poll, containing 1,041 responses from 2,800 lawyers, found in her favor. So did the Shelby County Republican Party, The Commercial Appeal, and the Memphis Police Association. Rosenberg, former personal manager for the late Charlie Rich, got the nod from the Germantown and Midtown Democratic Clubs. Chancery Court, Part 1: Incumbent Chancellor C. NEAL SMALL* suddenly has a difficult case on his hands. The 72-year-old former state legislator and GOP activist knew he could count on the endorsement of the Shelby County Republican Party as he sought a fourth eight-year term. He got the approval of Bar Association members, too. But he was ruled out of order by The Commercial Appeal, which chose to endorse challenger WALTER EVANS, now serving as a city judge. Evans also was liked by the Memphis Police Association and the Germantown and Midtown Democratic Clubs. Challenger Bill Cohn has made effective appearances but figures to be a spoiler rather than a winner. (He’s been even-handed, both questioning the incumbent’s competence and trying to get Evans disqualified for using old signs that say, “Keep Judge Walter Evans.”) Criminal Court, Division 2: Newcomer Latonya S. Burrow, an impressive speaker with few credentials as yet to speak of, may be a ray of sunshine for Eddie Peterson, a veteran of some heavy-duty prosecutions whose lack of name recognition, aided only by the Shelby County Republican Party’s endorsement, ill equips him to challenge the well-known W. OTIS HIGGS JR. head on. Especially since Higgs, a candidate in several mayoral races who hopes to return to Criminal Court after an absence of more than a generation, is boosted by The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Police Association, the Memphis Bar Association, and the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs. Burrow’s candidacy makes it two blacks versus one white, though – an arithmetic that could, but probably won’t, help Peterson. Criminal Court Judge, Division 8: CHRIS CRAFT* took some good shots at a recent League of Women Voters forum from Public Defender Tarik Sugarmon, his opponent, concerning what Sugarmon considered the incumbent’s high-handed act in slapping a contempt-of-court term on a discontented juror. But Craft has most of the endorsements – The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Bar Association, the Memphis Police Association – conceding Sugarmon only that of the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs. Not even the challenger’s clever use in his advertising of his last name alone (a device to echo dad Russell, a revered General Sessions judge) will pull him even. Criminal Court Judge, Division 9: If there is a main bout in this year’s judicial races, this head-on between the most unconventional judge of all time, JOE BROWN* and TERRY HARRIS, one of District Attorney General Bill Gibbons’ fair-haired boys, is it. The undeniably able Harris has most of the endorsements –The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Bar Association, the Memphis Police Association. Brown, whom an appellate court booted off the case of the late James Earl Ray because of his alleged bias, admits his “judicial temperament” is a bit eccentric, but says old-fashioned justice has gone blind for real and he’s just trying to impose new vision with his bizarre sentencing (e.g., ordering a burglary victim to pick something from the burglar’s home). And the members of the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs do want to “Keep Brown Downtown.” General Sessions, Division 1: Articulate attorney Lawrence R. “Rusty” White (son of Jim White, the late former holder of this seat) makes a good appearance and is slated for prominence down the line if his luck holds. But not this trip: LYNN COBB* has a lopsided edge among members of the Memphis Bar Association, and is liked by both The Commercial Appeal and the Memphis Police Association. And the genial Cobb is a card-carrying member of the GOP, one factor prompting the Shelby County Republican Party to endorse him. In theory, African-American attorney Karen Webster might have further confused the outlook for White, who is endorsed by the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs, but she’s played it scarce and is more a candidate for missing-person milk-carton appeals than for judicial office. General Sessions, Division 3: Like Peterson, assistant county attorney and former Memphis policeman DANNY PRESLEY got an early boost from the Shelby County Republican Party, and the one-on-one demographics would seem to favor him. But the Memphis Police Association, the Memphis Bar Association, the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs and, most recently, The Commercial Appeal all went on the line for the incumbent, JOHN A. DONALD*, who, after two previous split-field victories, may finally win his way into the mainstream. General Sessions, Division 5: This is the most crowded and, in theory, most difficult to figure of this year’s judicial races. But in fact, BETTY THOMAS, the choice of the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs, should win easily. She’s the only African American, she has an energetic and energizing presence, and she’s worked harder at being everywhere than anybody since Janice Holder (now a state Supreme Court justice) ran for Circuit Court in 1990. The deserving Eugene S. “Chip” Forrester is liked by the Memphis Bar Association and the Shelby County Republican Party, but David Shapiro takes the Memphis Police Association nod, Rhonda Harris has The Commercial Appeal and some Poplar Corridor support, and the elfin Michael Belz owns the most unusual credential of all: the late Sid Vicious once passed out on his shoulder. (That has to merit somebody’s vote!) Seriously, all four non-Thomas candidates are good, but it’s at least three too many for any of them to have a chance against Thomas. General Sessions, Division 6: When veteran lawyer (and vintage Republican) Jim Lawrence picked up The Commercial Appeal’s endorsement, surely GARY WILKINSON, who had the endorsements of the Shelby County Republican Party, the Memphis Police Association, and the Memphis Bar Association, was tempted to cancel his subscription. Any kind of voter split between himself and Lawrence made it that much easier for LONNIE THOMPSON, the only African-American entry and an impressive figure in his own right, to wedge his way to victory. But Thompson has been around the track before and somehow managed to lose races he should have won (the other side of the coin from his slogan, “A Name You Can Trust”). A kind of indefinable ennui has been tendered by some as an explanation for that, and, if it’s true, it ill serves him against the hard-working Wilkinson. A toss-up between the two of them, with the deserving Lawrence (who’s also been there before) odd man out again. General Sessions, Division 10: JOYCE BROFFITT* has everybody’s endorsement (the Shelby County Republican Party, the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs, The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Bar Association, and the Memphis Police Association). Moreover, she’s acquitted herself well on the job since being appointed to a vacancy by the County Commission, and she still has the best smile in politics! Opponent Terry Owen managed, at a recent forum, to suggest both that his fellow Republicans should have picked him and that politics should play no part in judicial elections. And Kathleen Manning-Mitchell has perhaps made overmuch of her grievance that the County Commission should have tried harder to notice her as a possible candidate to replace William Ray Ingram, who resigned last year to take a position in Washington. Them grapes ain’t sour, and Broffitt should hold on to them. General Sessions, Division 10: Prosecutor Tim Beacham, who as a policeman was gunned down by a perp years ago and has since been confined to a wheelchair, has had a hard time catching a break. Some of his fellow Republicans think he has an edge on – enough of them to have given TONY JOHNSON* the Shelby County Republican Party’s official endorsement. The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Bar Association, the Memphis Police Association, and the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs all followed suit. Seemingly an open-and-shut case, but, as they say, juries take a lot of things into consideration, and if there’s going to be an upset in a judicial race, it’s likely to be in this one. Beacham did put together an impressive collection of suburban mayors, as well as one of rank-and-file police asssociation members, to endorse his candidacy. General Sessions, Division 11: If Mischelle Alexander-Best, the only African American of three candidates in this field, had worked the grass roots as hard as some of her advertising would suggest, both incumbent CHARLES B. GALLAGHER III* and challenger JIM ROBINSON would be out of luck. The Memphis Bar Association and the Memphis Police Association back Gallagher, who cites their support to refute claims that he keeps lazy courtroom hours. Assistant D.A. Robinson was chosen by The Commercial Appeal and the Shelby County Republican Party (where wife Jessica Robinson is a longtime activist). Best owns the endorsement of the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs and is certainly within grabbing distance if the others break the wishbone in half. General Sessions, Division 12: Incumbent HORACE PIEROTTI* has not been physically much in evidence during the election campaign, but he does have prominent billboards and yard signs, and he will have the benefit of the Shelby County Republican Party ballot, and he does own a family name that symbolizes judicial performance to many Memphians. That said, the hard-working and ubiquitous Loyce Lambert, a longtime member of the Public Defender’s staff, could still have a shot. But only the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs gave her a nod; the Memphis Bar Association, the Memphis Police Association, and The Commercial Appeal all went for the incumbent. Juvenile Court: Longtime incumbent KENNETH TURNER* seemed to have an awkward time at the recent League of Women Voters forum dealing with suggestions by his opponent, City Judge Earnestine Hunt Dorse, that he was handicapped by lack of practical courtroom experience. (Primarily an administrator, Turner was never admitted to the bar; his cases are heard by appointed referees.) But the well-credentialed Dorse has seemed at times defensive and even shrill during this campaign, evidencing little of the personal ambiguity that translates into a necessary flexibility on the bench. As a result, Turner has tended to end up with the sympathy vote, as well as endorsements from the Shelby County Republican Party, the Memphis Police Association, and The Commercial Appeal. Dorse has been endorsed by the Midtown and Germantown Democratic Clubs. Criminal Court Clerk: Former sheriff and County Court squire Billy
Ray Schilling has waged something of a guerrilla war against his
former boss, incumbent and Republican nominee BILL KEY*. (Note,
the prohibition against judicial primaries which the County Commission
enacted this year by legislative sanction does not apply to the
various courts’ clerk positions.) That fact alone might seem to give Democratic nominee
Ralph White, minister at Bloomfield Baptist Church, a chance of
winning, but the plucky (and quirky) Schilling’s support group
is limited in scope. Besides his party label, Key also owns endorsements
from The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Bar Association, and the
Memphis Police Association. With whatever justice, Key has been
accused by his opponents of insensitivity toward women and minorities
on his staff, and he has had to deal with Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission complaints. But he seems unlikely to lose enough ground
to Schilling to make possible the election of the likeable White,
a party maverick in some organization Democrats’ eyes. |
f the 40-odd countywide judicial and judicial-related positions
on the August 6th general election ballot, 17 are being contested.
What follows is a rundown of these races, with incumbents marked
with an asterisk (*), the likely winner in ALL CAPS (in a dead-heat
situation, CAPS will be used for more than one candidate), and
a brief summary of matters relevant to the race.
