Seven candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination for Shelby County mayor. MLK50: Justice Through Journalism has reached out to each of them with your questions.
MLK50 recently surveyed Shelby County residents to learn your top questions for the candidates. We shared the most commonly asked questions with the candidates to get their responses. The public had questions on everything from public transit to the Memphis Safe Task Force to the county’s property tax rate.
The Democratic candidates for county mayor are:
Melvin Burgess, currently Shelby County’s assessor of property. Burgess, an accountant, previously served two terms on the Shelby County Board of Commissioners.
Harold Collins, currently Shelby County’s chief administrative officer. Collins previously worked on the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission, as special assistant to the Shelby County District Attorney General and served two terms as a Memphis city councilman.
Marie N. Feagins, former Memphis-Shelby County Schools superintendent, previously worked at Detroit Public Schools as chief of leadership and high schools. Feagins is currently suing Memphis-Shelby County Schools over her firing as superintendent in 2025.
Heidi Kuhn, currently Shelby County’s criminal court clerk, Kuhn has previously held other roles with the county, including as executive director of the Crime Victims Center, deputy director of community services and lead strategist to the Shelby County sheriff.
Mickell M. Lowery, currently a Shelby County commissioner, is also managing director of sales at FedEx, where he’s held multiple roles in more than two decades at the company.
Rusty Qualls, owner of Allure Tax Solutions LLC., has also worked in supply chain and logistics management.
JB Smiley Jr., currently a Memphis city councilman, is an attorney who founded Smiley & Associates PLLC…