The Aug. 4 ballot is long—full of races for judgeships, school board members and state and federal lawmakers.
But the race for Shelby County District Attorney General and County Clerk have seen last minute interest, driven in part by the negative press around various crises.
Democrats began questioning incumbent DA Amy Weirich over how aggressively she might prosecute abortion crimes after Tennessee enacts its near total ban next month. Her opponent Steve Mulroy has pledged to make abortion laws a low priority. He has also focused his messaging on reportingthat suggests Weirich's office has engaged in prosecutorial misconduct.
A massive backlog of license plates and long lines at offices run by County Clerk Wanda Halbert have also given her Republican opponent, Jeff Jacobs, a campaign opportunity.
Elsewhere, Tennessee state government is wrestling with education issues. Gov. Bill Lee is still receiving backlash over hissupport of charter schools run by Hillsdale College. Its president was caught on tape disparaging teachers.
Finally, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery is suing the Biden Administration for threatening to withhold school lunch funding to states that don't abide by its Title IX guidelines surrounding treatment of transgender students. The state, however, previously threatened to defund school districts that don't follow its policies created to discriminate against transgender students. Political analyst Otis Sanford takes note of the irony in this week's conversation.
