Poll Results

Most recent poll results, by the Commercial Appeal show the following local opinion on the mayor election:

Carol Chumney: 32%
Willie Herenton: 20%
Herman Morris: 16%
John Willingham: 3%
Other/Undecided: 29%

Other specifics include the following statistics:

Q: Should Mayor Willie Herenton be re-elected?
Yes: 20%
No: 66%

Black response:
Yes: 34%
No: 47%

White response:
Yes: 2%
No: 93%

These results do not suggest that this blog has yet chosen to rally behind Carol Chumney. Chumney is indeed a strong candidate at this point, but there is also 6 months until this election, which is enough time for anything to change. There is also a significant number of undecided voters. What appears necessary is for Chumney and Morris to both focus on the voters in Herenton's base, and definitely not in competition with each other. A split between the 32% and 16% support for Chumney and Morris would still leave either/both of them ahead of Herenton, however the 29% of other/undecided voters is a troublesome statistic to work with in this election.

Rebuilding Memphis

The interesting thing to note about this mayor election is that it is not a competition about party. Its not Democrat vs. Republican. Its not Liberal vs. Conservative. Its about the candidate that can do the most for the city of Memphis. Some aspects about the city to focus on in this election include:

• Effectively combating the crime rate. Putting more cops on the streets is only going to raise taxes. How can we make a poor, poverty-stricken Memphis safer without paying a fortune for it? We need a plan. Mayor Herenton has no plan. We need a candidate with an idea to make things in this city work for the people.

• Rebuilding the community around the city (outside the 240 Interstate loop). Areas such as Frayser, Raleigh, South Memphis, Westwood, Whitehaven, Parkway Village, Fox Meadows, and Hickory Hill, whom have been all but forgotten in the past 10-15 years, have gone to the waste side as the mayor focuses all his attention on the inner revitalization of the city, and the downtown environment.

• Limiting outer-area city development. As development continues to make Germantown Parkway a more and more frustrating road to drive on, it continues to create holes in the city, which were once popular with regular business. Areas like the former Mall of Memphis and the Mid-South Fairgrounds, are perfectly setup for active business, but because of the decline in the environment surrounding them and the excessively-rapid expansion out east, they are being forgotten and quickly turning into ghost-towns.

• Maintaining Downtown, in the process of rebuilding the city. This starts with the Pyramid. What are we going to do about it? If the Bass Pro Shop Plan doesn't work, we need to redevelop the northern section of downtown. Even if that means finding multiple vendors for the Pyramid, we need to find a way to make this section of downtown a prominent tourist attraction, and an area that Memphis can be proud of.

• Fixing the corruption with MLGW. I guess the answer to this is simple: Find a decent President to run MLGW. While the answer could be easy to rehire Herman Morris, if he doesn't win the mayor race, consideration should also be given to several other potential candidates. The last thing we need is another Joseph Lee.

Did I miss something? Is there another primary issue that we should focus on in this election? If so, please comment.

Polls show Chumney leads, will that last?

It has now been made clear by two polls (one run by Businessman Karl Schledwitz, the other by lawyer Richard Fields) that City Council, and Mayor-hopeful Carol Chumney is the current front-runner in the 2007 Memphis City Mayor race. The actual results of these polls are unreleased at the current time. However, they have informed that Mayor Herenton lags substantially behind Chumney, with Herman Morris, who is still struggling to make a public name for himself, running in third.

So there are two questions that can be derived from this: Does Chumney have what it takes to maintain this lead for the next 7 months? And, does she have what it takes to rebuild a struggling, poverty-stricken city? Chumney has gained a high profile name for herself for being one of the most highly-spoken critics of the mayor over the past several years. How will this affect her in her run for mayor, and will she be able to attain the black voters needed in the predominately African American city of Memphis, in order to win?