COLLIERVILLE, Tennessee — A long list of races await Shelby County voters on Aug. 4, including the decision regarding who will be the mayor of the county.
With the election ahead, both incumbent Lee Harris and city councilman Worth Morgan attended a forum in Collierville on Sunday with the hopes of reaching voters.
Current Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said that his major contribution has been "speaking on behalf of the vast amount of people that face challenges every day."
"I think I've delivered," he said. "I think every day, every week—throughout the entirety of my career, those are the only issues I talk about. I stay away from any issue that does not have real relevance, in my view, to the lives of working families because I don't think there's enough people talking about challenges that they face."
Candidate Worth Morgan said that when someone is elected mayor, there are "two things that you inherently get."
"One is a podium like this in which you can dictate to the crowd and the answers," he said. "Sometimes you use it to elevate an issue in front of the community and conversation and public consciousness. Then you also get a real big table, and at that table I need people that are honest. I need people that are capable. I need people that are in it for the right reasons as we talk about some of these, honest to God, battles that we're fighting."
The candidates running for mayor weren't the only ones who spoke at a forum. Current District Attorney Amy Weirich and challenger Steve Mulroy are two candidates who spoke in Orange Mound last week discussing what the public can expect from each of them if elected.
"At the end of the day, the goal of our office is to come up with a resolution in every case, whether it's misdemeanor or felony that keeps that offender from ever coming back into the system again," Weirich said. "If we can accomplish that, we have one less victim in this community and that offender is a better and stronger person for their community."
Mulroy focused on "refocusing."
"We need to refocus on violent crime and stop wasting our recourses on petty prosecutions like marijuana possession, being late in fines and fees, going after protestors or going after people who attempted to register to vote when they were told that they were able to vote," he said. "We need to refocus on things that matter—carjacking, domestic assault, homicides."
Both candidates, along with the mayoral candidates, are on the ballot Aug. 4.