MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Democrat Lee Harris will be the new Shelby County mayor after defeating Republican opponent and county trustee David Lenoir.
Harris and Lenoir both acknowledged the win before final election results were in. With most precincts counted, Harris was ahead with 55 percent of the vote to Lenoir’s 45 percent.
Harris is a state senator, former Memphis city council member and University of Memphis law professor.
The new mayor will take over for Republican Mark Luttrell, who is limited to two terms, in leading a county of about 930,000 people.
In other Shelby County races, Floyd Bonner won the race for county sheriff with 60 percent of the vote to Dale Lane’s 40 percent. Bonner, a Democrat, was endorsed by outgoing Republican sheriff Bill Oldham.
Democrat Tami Sawyer declared victory in the District 7 County Commission race against Republican Sam Goff. Sawyer is an activist who captured attention with the #takeemdown901 movement to remove Confederate statues from two Memphis city parks.
With 96% of precincts reporting, 152,509 ballots had been cast out of 561,701. That’s about 27% turnout.
► View full election results here.
- Amber Mills won County Commission Dist. 1
- David Bradford won County Commission Dist. 2
- Mick Wright won County Commission Dist. 3
- Mark Billingsley won County Commission Dist. 4
- Willie Brooks was unopposed for County Commission Dist. 6
- Mickell Lowery was unopposed for County Commission Dist. 8
- Edmund Ford Jr. won County Commission Dist. 9
- Reginald Milton won County Commission Dist. 10
- Eddie Jones was unopposed for County Commission Dist. 11
- Van Turner was unopposed for County Commission Dist. 12
- Brandon Morrison won County Commission Dist. 13
- Ford Canale won the special election for Memphis City Council Dist. 9
