Old News: Chumney Rejected Resolution

Amidst a two week blogging absence (as this blogger is a busy student in the middle of finals week at the University of Memphis), it appears that recent news from City Councilwoman Carol Chumney was eclipsed by the news of the Virginia Tech Massacre. To reemphasize the news involving Chumney, she rejected a resolution by Jack Sammons, asking MLGW President Joseph Lee to resign. Has Chumney gone nuts, or flip-flopped? Not quite... There are two ways to look at this:

1. Not supporting Chumney. She was furious at Mayor Herenton's refusal to accept the resignation of MLGW President Joseph Lee amidst exposure of corruption involving Lee and his services to Edmund Ford. For her not to support this resolution only shows that she wants everything to be done for her credit.

2. Supporting Chumney. She rejected this resolution because she feels it is necessary to hold the Mayor accountable for his action in keeping Lee on board. This may not work to the immediate benefit of the city, but it shows that she, while as a councilwoman who has openly argued the decisions of the mayor, is willing to provide the mayor with the responsibility that he deserves being in his position.

Click here to read Chumney's letter in regards to the resolution.

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.

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?