MEMPHIS, Tenn. — This is part one of a two-part series covering the upcoming Shelby County Clerk election. Click here for part two.
In what some are saying is already an overheated political climate nationally, locally in Shelby County, the race for General Sessions Court clerk isn’t without its share of heated disputes.
Incumbent Joe Brown lost the Democratic primary to former Shelby County commissioner Tami Sawyer earlier this year, while Lisa Arnold was the only Republican to meet the qualifications for the meet the Aug. 1 general ballot.
Both Arnold and Sawyer are campaigning for the role of keeping all of the records for the six civil divisions and nine criminal courts in the state of Tennessee’s largest court system.
Sawyer is the Democratic nominee for the position of General Sessions Court Clerk. She is a former Shelby County Commissioner and is a local activist. She has also unsuccessfully run for state representative and Memphis mayor.
“Right now, we know customer service as well as morale and retention are huge issues in the General Session Court Clerk’s office," Sawyer said when describing her platform and priorities for the position. "And so, we want to go in and put better processes in place, technology improvements, moving us into the digital age from pen and paper so that we can make sure the work is moving along both on the civil and criminal sides.”
Lisa Arnold is the Republican nominee for the position of General Sessions Court Clerk. This is Arnold's first time running for public office, and she has worked within the General Sessions Court and Criminal Court offices for 33 years.
A major argument coming from Lisa Arnold's campaign literature references what the Arnold campaign characterizes as Sawyer's inexperience in the Shelby County Court System.
“Having been a former commissioner, I funded these offices, I worked with judges on reforms, I worked with the judges on issues in the jails and the courts, and so I have a very strong relationship that from day one I’ll be ready act on," Sawyer said.
Sawyer's candidacy has been met with controversy, with her opponent in campaign literature saying, in part, "Shelby County can't afford woke political activist Tami Sawyer" and digging up her old controversial tweets.
"It’s disappointing that they’ve gone on the attack, and furthermore, that they’ve gone on the attack in a time that we’re in right now where everything is so volatile and using racist tactics. I’m used to that, being an activist, but it’s very disappointing to me that in a race when it’s about qualifications, instead of focusing on justice, they’re making me out to be an angry black woman, using old pictures, darkening my face."
The election for General Sessions Court Clerk will be the only countywide ballot measure for 2024.