This, my friends, is how you LEAD.

BRAVO to the House Democratic Caucus for working with the Nashville LGBT community for a fundraiser for the Caucus.  They correctly perceived that the community should be natural supporters of the Democratic Party and that by standing with your friends, your friends will stand with you.

Now it's time to do that here in Memphis and other urban areas across the state.  This is a sign that SOME PEOPLE in the Democratic Party understand where our future lies and where the population is growing.

Great work, House Democratic Caucus, big props to Leader Fitzhugh, Caucus Chair Mike Turner and the entire Caucus for their forward-thinking leadership!

I couldn't say it any better than Michael does

The shutdown will end today, and the fools in the House GOP will get LESS than if they had done nothing, per the Atlantic's Molly Ball, via Slate Magazine:

 The GOP will actually get less out of the final deal being brokered than the party would have gotten had House conservatives never staged their revolt on Obamacare. In fact, the drama is likely to end with Republicans ceding policy concessions to Democrats. ... The "concession" extracted by the GOP in the deal, the sole change to the health-care law, is purely cosmetic: a reinstatement of the requirement that people seeking subsidies under the Affordable Care Act furnish proof that they qualify. That requirement was in the original law, but the administration delayed it when implementation hit snags in July. ... Democrats will get the government funded at levels they (grudgingly) sought in the first place, for longer than they originally sought, and without the looming threat of default.

Bill Day perfectly captures the shutdown

We are very lucky to have this man in our midst.

OFA Training in Memphis this Saturday!

Jennifer Buck Wallace passed this to me and I wanted to share with you!

Camp OFA(Training)

Camp OFA is a training program for OFA Fellows and volunteers to learn key organizing skills and connect with other volunteers in their communities around the issues that are important to them.

Time: Saturday, September 28, 2013 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Host: Jermaine Freeman

Contact Phone: 901-299-9983

Location: Caritas Village (Memphis, TN) 2509 Harvard Avenue Memphis, TN 38112

Directions: Contact Leatrice Burgess for directions to event. She can be reached at 901-299-9983 or at b.leatrice@gmail.com.

More on the SCDP Roast of Mayor Herenton

Here's SCDP Chair Bryan Carson:

Why Medical Costs are too high in the USA

It is complex, but I have three words that would simply this: MEDICARE FOR ALL.

Next steps to rebuild the TNDP

Good to see that Clay Crownover took my response in the right spirit and asked for my thoughts as where we should go next.

First, I do NOT believe that we should be an urban-only party.  Rural parts of this state are hurting and hurting badly, especially West Tennessee, which has been hemorrhaging jobs.  We as a party have to show that we can create the infrastructure that creates jobs and brings companies to this state.

We need more small business to start and grow, as they provide more jobs in the long run.  We need to stop paying big companies to move here and subsidize the jobs they provide.  They are supposed to be paying for their share, not vice versa.

As a party, we have to develop from the ground up, in EVERY county.  We have to make people realize that politics is personal, and crucial, and is NOT a bad word, except when megabusiness owns the process.  We need YOUNG people involved, and not just to be gofers in campaigns, but to be involved at EVERY level and not just to be blown off when we are done with them.

With regards to the word conservative, that term has been so bastardized that no one really knows WHAT it means any more.  People are scared, and rightly so, but we have to help them understand that by voting Republican, they are hurting themselves more than they are hurting anyone else.

Unfortunately, our media is so dominated by the corporate right-wing, all you can see and hear are right-wing memes on Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and his ilk.  When that's all you ever hear, you expect people to starting believing the lies they put out.

This is going to be a long process for the state and local Democratic Parties.  We cannot operate as we have in the past.  We need organization, organization, organization because we cannot ever win a money war with the Republicans.  We need to GROW Democrats, and that doesn't happen overnight.

Your thoughts?

Advertisements for Myself, and other happenings

Remember my post about Jim Cooper that noted that he should run for the Senate in the event Joe Carr knocks off LAMAR! in the primary?  Jackson Baker saw fit to run it in the Flyer this week, for which we are grateful.  He is as good a friend as this blog has ever had and he champions it at every opportunity, for which I offer him a heart-felt THANK YOU.

Next, I hesitate to write about this, but WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AT THE TNDP THESE DAYS?  After what was noted to be a highly-successful Jackson Day fundraiser on Saturday night, we were greeted with the news that Kevin Teets, TNDP's Executive Director, had resigned his post.

How surprising was this news?  So much that it caught our friend Gale Jones Carson, the longtime TNDP Secretary, completely offguard.  I am here to tell you that if GALE didn't see this coming, no one else did, either.  Then, to compound matters, Steven Hale of the Nashville Scene, who broke the Teets story, then broke the news that staffers Allison Jones (office manager) and Cortnye Stone (deputy finance director) ALSO resigned.  This left the TNDP with TWO paid staff members, Brandon Puttbrese, the terrific communications director, and chief fundraiser Jake Dunavant.

How in the hell are you going to run ANY campaign with  ONLY TWO paid Staffers?  And why also did Finance Committee Chair Jerry Maynard and Finance Committee member Mary Patterson resign their positions on that committee (they chose to stay on the Executive Committee)?

ExecCom, it's YOUR JOB to stay on top of Roy.  What the hell is going on there, and why should anyone have any confidence in his leadership?  With the exception of the potential Sara Kyle for Governor campaign, why should we support the TNDP, if it is not effective?  I am asking YOU to investigate this matter.

Enough on that.

While all that's going on, a young fellow named Clay Crownover, who apparently has his own firm in Knoxville called CFC Strategies, LLC, (first I have heard of it, to be truthful) wrote a piece about what ails Tennessee Democrats.  Allow me to summarize this:

STFU, YOU DAMN HIPPIES. TENNESSEE IS A CONSERVATIVE STATE AND ONLY CONSERVATIVES CAN BE ELECTED, SO SHUT UP AND GET IN LINE.

Well, you read it yourself; go ahead, I'll wait. This fellow, who I thought was actually quite thoughtful, just came to inaccurate conclusions in defense of the aforementioned Roy Herron.  What Mr. Crownover doesn't seem to understand is that Blue Dog Democrats are no longer electable in this state (Ask Bart Gordon, Jim Cooper, et al).  2010 drove the last nail in that coffin.  People who quit voting for Democrats after 2008 when we elected that, well, YOU KNOW, to the Presidency are not coming back to this party.  I really don't care about whether they do come back because I don't think racists should be welcome in our party.

It's their children and grandchildren that I want to bring into this party, those open to a message of equality in opportunity and in ALL matters, to ensure that the megacorporations are broken up to give small businesses a chance, and to ensure that workers receive a fairer percentage of the bounty they produce.  Mr. Crownover seems to fall into the trap that we have to chase older white folks who turned their backs on the New Deal message once they understood we meant to be for more than just white folks.  They're not coming back.  EVER.

Younger Tennesseans will be more open to our message, and we need to be working on them NOW.  We need to bring them into the party, and LISTEN to them, and encourage them to work in campaigns, and to get them to RUN, even if they might lose at first.  I hope that Mr. Crownover, who seems like a good person that cares about his party, will take part in this, because I don't want to run him off, I do want to have a conversation.  I just think that if we forget who we ARE as a party, that we stand for equality, small business and the working man, we might as well not exist.

What are your thoughts?

It's time to think about a Democratic Senate candidate.

As Sara Kyle decides whether to challenge Governor Haslam and his billions in the 2014 Governor's Race (and here's hoping that she DOES), there is more to think about for 2014.

With the announcement that State Rep. Joe Carr of Lascassas has decided to challenge Senator LAMAR! Alexander in the Senate GOP Primary, it raises some questions that Democrats need to think about.  As we have seen in other states, when a moderate Senator such as Alexander is challenged in a GOP Primary and then defeated, it has enabled Democrats to elect a Senator, such as Joe Donnelly in Indiana, and has opened up possibilities for Michelle Nunn (yes, that's Sam's daughter) in Georgia.

Does Joe Carr have a real chance to knock off LAMAR! in the primary? Well, once we start seeing his disclosures and can determine if the Club For Growth and ALEC will put serious funding into Carr's campaign, then that could cause Democrats to rethink whether to field a candidate that can raise money into the race.

If no one else gets in, I will probably vote for Jacob Maurer; he seems to have the right stands on the issues for me, but I harbor no illusions about his ability to beat LAMAR!.  However, what if Carr really gets the wackos out to beat LAMAR! in the Primary?  The Old Guard GOP truly hates the Tea Partiers with a purple passion, and if the last member of the Holy Trinity that built the TNGOP (Baker, Thompson and Alexander) is upended, does anyone else think that their money might go to a Democrat worth voting for?

I think we may know the answer to this question before Christmas.  And, if it looks like Carr will make enough headway to beat LAMAR!, then we need to get someone ready to run.

Given that the type of person that OGGOPs might be willing to support in the event of a Carr upset, there's really only one Democrat who could get the support and funding from those folks:

Jim Cooper.

I know, I know.  No, I am NOT high or drunk or otherwise altered.  Under normal circumstances, I would be calling for him to be primaried from the left.  However, as you may have noticed, these are NOT normal circumstances, and if Joe Carr were to somehow snatch the GOP nomination from LAMAR!, there are a lot of GOP donors who would be pissed off enough to help Cooper.  This may be his best shot.

All of this, of course, comes down to whether the wackos in the TNGOP can knock off the ultimate OGGOP; no one thinks Cooper could take LAMAR! mano-a-mano.  However, if Carr proves to be a more formidable force than anyone believed, Cooper would be ready to send him back to Rutherford County.  It would also mean that a Democrat would win a Senate race for the first time in this state since Al Gore was re-elected in 1990.

All of which means Jim Cooper needs to think about this seriously.  As much as I have been at odds with him, he clearly would be our best choice in the event of a GOP upset.   I would absolutely hold my tongue and keyboard and try not to criticize him, knowing what the alternative could be.

And if we had Kyle and Cooper at the top of our ticket, it sure as hell might encourage Democrats to run for State House and State Senate positions, and that is needed.

Jim Cooper, take this under consideration, if you have not done so already.  If Carr can beat LAMAR!, you could move up and take another Senate seat from the GOP, which would be indeed a good thing.

IT'S WORKING

It seems that Jim DeMint, the batshit-crazy former US Senator from South Carolina who now runs the morally and ethically bankrupt Heritage Foundation, is in Tennessee on his Defund ObamaCare tour.

Well, the working woman in Nashville, Mary Mancini of Tennessee Citizen Action, has a "welcoming" video for DeMint right here:

Whalum wins his lawsuit and there will be a new election, but does this open new questions

Reverend Kenneth Whalum won his challenge of the August 2012 election that saw him lose his seat on the Unified District Board to Kevin Woods by 108 votes.

Chancellor Kenny Armstrong ruled that there had to be a new election due to problems with the election that made the number of disputed votes larger than the margin of Woods' victory.  From the Daily News article:

“Admittedly, the mistakes here were honest mistakes and non-intentional,” Armstrong concluded. “They, however, bear a direct relationship to the uncertainty of the election outcome if all voters had been allowed to participate and vote in the District 4 race.”

So, as it appears that Woods' election was improper (albeit through no fault of his own), this raises a new question: were the actions he took after September 1, 2012 as a member of that Board valid and binding?  Were there any instances where Woods was the deciding vote in a Board matter and, if so, does this ruling invalidate that vote?

I hope someone familiar with election law can answer this and update in the comments.

On the death of a newspaper and why I don't subscribe to the Commercial Appeal

Not to toot my own horn, but I have been able to read since the age of 3.  And the first things that I read were newspapers.  Growing up 100 miles from Chicago, I read the Dixon Telegraph, the Rockford Morning Star and Chicago's American at my house.  My grandparents took the Dixon paper, the Chicago Tribune (presumably avoiding the editorial section) and the greatest paper I ever read, the Chicago Daily News, where as a 7-year-old I first read the great Mike Royko.

Twenty years ago, when out-of-town Sunday papers were sent to Memphis, I would frequent World News downtown or Tobacco Corner Newsroom out east to find the papers I wanted, sometimes spending as much as $20 on a Sunday to get those HUGE papers to spend the day with.  So, I love great newspapers.

While it may not have been great, the Nashville City Paper had great moments and good writers, at least one I know personally, and that is why I mourn its passing.  Its last issue was printed and hit the streets today, and they went out with a wonderful editorial about how Nashville needs newspapers.  They will be deeply missed.

Since Craigslist sucked all the money out of the classified ads with free online classifieds and with so much of our news coming online, it has become nearly impossible to make ANY profit with a newspaper, much less the unreasonable profit margins demanded by the demons of Wall Street.  Somehow the Daily News and the weekly Memphis Flyer stay above water and produce good journalism for our city and region.

Which brings me to the major daily for the city (but no longer for the region; Scripps abdicated their coverage of regional events long ago), the Commercial Appeal.  When we moved to Memphis 41 years ago, my folks took the Press-Scimitar, the afternoon daily, instead of the morning CA.  When the P-S met the fate of all afternoon papers (at least 15 years pre-Internet) and closed in 1983, my dad reluctantly subscribed to the Commercial Appeal.  Other than carrying Mike Royko, there really was not much to it, except for the ace political reporter, Terry Keeter, who knew where the bodies WEREN'T buried.

Until the bottom fell out, the CA has been the cash cow for Scripps and they meant to keep it that way (Google Chris Davis' stellar coverage of the CA-Newspaper Guild battles at the Flyer that decimated the Guild).  Frankly, other than Wendi Thomas (who has even seen her columns cut back in the last few months) and Geoff Calkins (the best sportswriter in the country, day in and day out, IMO), there's no real reason to give my money to Scripps for less value every day.

Reading the City Paper editorial, I was about to give in and subscribe to the CA so as to support our major daily paper.  Then I heard about something that was, frankly, the last straw.  Over a year ago, I believe, the wonderful cartoonist for the CA, Bill Day, who was afraid of nothing and no one with his fearless cartoons, was released from the CA, ostensibly in a cost-cutting move.  Other papers have done the same thing around the country, choosing instead to get a cheaper syndicated cartoonist.

The final nail in the coffin was, for me, hearing that this week they hired a cartoonist from South Carolina to be the regular cartoonist.  Does this person know the area?  Will he be fair and straight across the board, as Bill Day was?  Why not just bring back Day, if Day wanted?

My own suspicions are that Day's cartoons aggravated the conservatives in the suburbs, whom CA management have desperately sought to appease and keep as subscribers, despite the fact that they do not make up a majority of the city or county.

I love newspapers, but I want value for my money.  If I lived in Little Rock, I would take the Democrat-Gazette, horrid editorial and op-ed pages and all, because Walter Hussmann is committed to news coverage and staffing his newsroom.  They still cover the state of Arkansas, because it is their mission.

I feel bad for the reporters at the CA, because, as the City Paper noted, you don't do more with less, you do LESS with less,.  Sadly, less is all that Scripps management wants to give this city, and I refuse to pay for it.

So where are the YOUNG Democrats coming from?

First, y'all need to go and read JR Lind's Weekly Obsession from the soon-to-be-defunct Nashville City Paper.  Go ahead, I can wait.  Ok, got it?  Good.

He makes a helluva point that the TNDP and its enablers are living in a past where 1994 never happened and we are in perpetual 1992 and people WANT to vote for Blue Dogs and EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE IF YOU JUST LISTEN TO US!!!!

Well, no.  The part that froze me but did not surprise me was this quote about the departure of Lowe Finney from the State Senate:

Not to disparage the Senate Democratic Caucus, many of whom have given years — and in some cases, nearly a century — of service to the state of Tennessee. But that’s just the problem. 

With Finney, the average age of a Senate Democrat is 64. 

Without him, it’s 69.

Whoa.  Now, I remember that Ross had noted something similar at VIBINC, but I can't find it right now.

Where is our future coming from, people?  I am not disparaging the state YDs; Sean Braisted is busting his butt to build that organization.  Where, though, are our Young Democrats?  We need more people like Braisted, Spencer Bowers (UT-Martin), Charles Uffelman (U Memphis) and more young WOMEN to be involved and to RUN for office.

Speaking of that, what happened to George Monger?  Remember the young tech whiz that Democrats named to the County Election Commission but inexplicably refused to re-appoint him, naming Anthony Tate in his stead?  (By the way, I hear good things about Tate's work so far.)  I have heard disturbing reports that there were other legislators afraid of this rising star and wanted to short-circuit his career.  PEOPLE, THIS IS THE TYPE OF YOUNG DEMOCRAT WE NEED!!!  HERE AND THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

So, I will tell you what I think should happen.  With the passing of Lois DeBerry, we now have an open seat in the General Assembly.  George Monger is the type of young, aggressive leader that we need in Nashville who will not be afraid to call shenanigans on the GOP.  We need to encourage him to run for District 91, and if the County Commission appoints someone to fill that position in the interim before the necessary special election, we need to encourage them to appoint George to that seat.

We don't need to stop with George; we need younger, stronger voices representing Democratic policies in our General Assembly, our County Commission , our City Council and our Unified School Board whenever and wherever possible.  We need to build a BENCH, which is what the state GOP is doing, and they are smart to do so.  We need these younger people because without them, the Democratic Party has no future here.

We need to make sure that they have good jobs, we need to encourage College Democrats clubs at ALL of our local colleges, not just U of M (I know CBU will be a tough nut to crack, but still....).  We need to encourage the building of Young Democrats clubs in every county here.  Terry Spicer was doing a terrific job, then he moved, but now he's back, so maybe he could get involved!

And Shelby County elected Bryan Carson as County Chair, who got elected for far more than his mother's good name, he got it because he WORKED for it.  We need younger people involved because old farts like me won't be around forever.  We need to ENCOURAGE our Young Democrats, not run them off.

So, what should we do about this?  I want to hear from you in the comments.  And, George Monger, PLEASE run for District 91!

Let's talk about what we can do to help take control away from the GOP

A lot of people look at the Tennessee Democratic Party and ask, why aren't they doing more to turn the electoral tide back in our direction.  First, of all, they really don't know how, because they have been the party of power for so long that they have no clue how to raise money other than to stick out their hands at lobbyists.

When the GOP is in control and the lobbyists don't need you anymore, and you really don't know how to do grassroots organizing, because you really haven't had to do so, you get kind of lost.  Chip Forrester tried, but never really got anything going, though he had a good staff.  Roy Herron has dedicated staff, but isn't really raising money these days, other than to sell tickets for Jackson Day.

So, what do we do?  Well, start by getting involved in your County Party, if possible.  If you look up your county and see there is no real party apparatus there, contact the County Chairs Association to see how you can get involved in your county.

In Shelby County, we have a good young chair in Bryan Carson, and he is building an organization and if you live here, he could use your help.  Come out on August 27 to Spaghetti Warehouse from 7-9 PM and meet the Executive Committee.  Yes, there will be a $20 donation, because they are going to need big bucks to run their August and November GET OUT THE VOTE drives in 2014.

I am going to have more later about the countywide races.  I hope to see you on August 27.

Sara Kyle is seriously considering a race for Governor!

This is nothing short of spectacular news, giving the state's Democrats a rallying figure at the top of the ticket.

Joey Garrison broke the story at the Tennnessean, referencing the Facebook page I mentioned earlier this morning. While she has much to discuss and think about, we need to be prepared to support her in this run as much as possible.  We need to be there with time, money and whatever needs to be done in order to make this a successful campaign.

With a strong candidate like Sara at the top of the ticket, more candidates will be encouraged to attempt campaigns for the General Assembly and the State Senate, which are desperately needed.  It will be an uphill battle, as Haslam has all the money he will need, with the Koch Brothers and ALEC standing by to give even more.  This is why we have to be prepared with time, money, and organization.

More on this later, but this is terrific news!

Run, Sara, Run!!!!

Well, it seems as though my friends Matt Kuhn and Michael Lipe have started a page on Facebook to encourage the last Democratic statewide-elected official NOT named Bredesen to run for Governor in 2014.  After thinking about this, I LIKE the idea, for more than just the reasons they state.

What, you don't know who they mean?  Let me let them tell you:

Aside from Phil Bredesen, who was the last Tennessee Democrat elected to a statewide office in Tennessee?

Sara Kyle

In 1994, one of the worst years for Democrats in Tennessee, who was the only democrat to win a statewide office?

Sara Kyle

Who was the last woman elected state wide in Tennessee?

Sara Kyle.

Who could start tomorrow with an organization spanning from the tri-cities where she was born, Nashville where she served in state government to Memphis where she is a wife, mother and church member?

Sara Kyle

Who could start raising money next week through national women's groups for public service?

Sara Kyle

Who was perceived as the best campaigner in the last democratic primary for Governor?

Sara Kyle (I'll give you that comes from her husband, Sen Jim Kyle)

Who cares about the people of Tennessee and the consumers she looked out for as the Director of TRA than our current Governor, who seems more interested in giving kickbacks to cronies than working for Tennesseans.

Sara Kyle

Who does Tennessee need to protect working Tennesseans?

Sara Kyle

Please forward this to interested Tennesseans who want Sara Kyle to run for Governor - who stands for all Tennesseans.

Run, Sara, Run

J Smooth nails this.

Don Lemon made some really dumb comments on CNN this week about racism.  J Smooth responds:

The news gets worse: Lowe Finney is not running for re-election to the Senate

Senator Lowe Finney (D-Jackson, District 27) sent out an announcement that he is not seeking re-election to his seat, which used to represent Madison, Gibson and Carroll Counties, but now represents Madison, Crockett, Dyer, Lake and Lauderdale Counties.  If this is for a run for higher office, then this may be a good thing.  However, from the tone of this letter to his constituents, it appears as though he is leaving politics, and that is NOT of the good:

Share this:

Dear Friend, Today I am making an important announcement, one that I wanted to share with you - one of my friends and strongest supporters - before it’s out in the news media. After much prayer and thoughtful consideration, I have decided not to seek a third term to the state Senate. I have had no higher honor than representing West Tennessee families in the state legislature. I am proud to have worked to improve health care for senior citizens, cut the sales tax on food and provide great opportunities for young students and veterans to attend college. I thank my wife, Tiffany, for her support all these years. Although I am leaving the Senate at the end of next year, I will remain your Senator for Dyer, Crockett, Lake, Lauderdale and Madison counties until the November election. I will work even harder in my last session, and I will be available to serve you in any way I can. I remain,   Respectfully yours, Paid for by Friends of Lowe Finney | Teresa Luna, Treasurer PO Box 1432 | Jackson, TN 38302

The sad times continue with news of the Ethics Complaint

As we are still mourning the passing of the legend that was Rep. Lois DeBerry, it was rather sad to see that the long-rumored House Ethics Committee complaint against Randy Wade had to be filed by our Congressman, Steve Cohen.

If you read the complaint at this link, you will see that what Randy did was in fact a violation of House Ethics rules, a violation that the Congressman himself warned Randy about.  Randy, who retired in February as a staffer, can face no penalties, as he is no longer a staffer.

He used his title as a Congressional staffer to endorse a candidate (G A Hardaway in House District 93), which is against House rules.  Period.  If Randy had endorsed Mike Kernell, it would have been just as much of a violation of House rules.  Period.

I like Randy and Steve is a friend of mine going back over 30 years, I am proud to say.  They were a terrific team together, and I know Steve did all he could within the law to help Randy in his Sheriff's race in 2010, but it just was not to be.  That's why this is a sad situation, reminiscent of a divorce more than anything else.

Supposedly Randy is going to work against Steve Cohen next year if someone is silly enough to try to do what no one since Harold Ford Jr. in 1996 has been able to do, which is to beat Steve in a primary.  That, too, is sad, because it just looks petty, and Randy is a better person than that, or so I have always believed.  Besides, if the 18-year Mayor of Memphis, Dr. W.W. Herenton, couldn't beat Steve, how will anyone else?

This has not been the best of years for Steve Cohen, and I know all of this has taken its toll on him. I would urge him to continue to fight for our city, as he has done since 1982 (24 years in Nashville, 6 in Washington.  We will have your back, Congressman, as you have had ours.

Rep. Lois DeBerry has died

From Deidre Malone comes the sad news:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                   Media contact: Deidre Malone,

The Carter Malone Group,

901.278.0881 or 901.409.9899,dmalone@cmgpr.com

The Passing of Tennessee State Representative Lois M. DeBerry

(MEMPHIS, TENN – July 28, 2013) For more than 40 years, Lois M. DeBerry served the citizens of the 91st District of Tennessee and the entire State.  Today, she passed comfortably surrounded by family and friends.  Representative DeBerry represented this community with passion and dedication across the nation and world.  For her, there was no greater cause than serving.  Children, her community, and most importantly her family, were her passions.

Her husband, Charles Traughber, son, Michael Boyer and other members of the Traughber/DeBerry family, have shared her for so many years with the world and ask for privacy at this time.

Arrangements are pending and will be announced when they are finalized.

About Rep. Lois M. DeBerry

Representative DeBerry grew up in Memphis and graduated from Hamilton High School and LeMoyne - Owen College. She was the first African-American female elected to the State Legislature from Memphis and Shelby County in 1972, and began her service in 1973. She was the longest serving member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Representative DeBerry was the first female Speaker Pro-Tempore and the only African-American to serve in that capacity to date.

In addition to her son, she was a surrogate mother and mentor to many.

                                                    ###