| Willie Herenton | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of Memphis | |
| In office 1991 – July 30, 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Richard Hackett |
| Succeeded by | Myron Lowery (pro tem) |
Willie Wilbert Herenton (born April 23, 1940) is an American politician who was formerly mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, and was candidate for election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010, until his defeat in the Democratic primary against incumbent Steve Cohen. He was the first African American to be elected mayor of Memphis.
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Dr. Herenton is a graduate of Le Moyne-Owen College and the University of Memphis. He received his doctorate in education at Southern Illinois University, and is also a recipient of two honorary doctorates from Rhodes College and Christian Brothers University. He has four children.
He is the first African-American to be elected mayor of Memphis, but not Memphis' first African-American Mayor. He won his first term by defeating incumbent mayor Richard Hackett in 1991 by a mere 146 votes. Prior to serving as mayor, Herenton was the superintendent of Memphis City Schools for twelve years. He resigned from his position as superintendent amidst public accusations of an affair he was having with one of his employees and the resulting lawsuit. In his State of the City address on January 1, 2006, Herenton announced his intention to run for a fifth term in 2007.
He was elected to his fifth term in office on October 4, 2007.
Herenton was selected to the long list for the 2008 World Mayor award; however, he was not selected for this honor. [1]
On March 20, 2008, Herenton announced that he would be stepping down from his position as Memphis' mayor, effective July 31, 2008. This move angered many politicians in the city including Councilwoman Carol Chumney, a candidate he beat for mayor of Memphis in October 2007. He made this announcement just a little over 90 days after his re-election.[2] Herenton stated his early departure from the mayor's office was to seek the position of superintendent of Memphis City Schools, dispelling speculation that he was stepping down because of a run for Congress or impending legal troubles from an ongoing criminal investigation at City Hall.[3] He later stated that he would not leave the office of mayor unless he got the position as the superintendent of schools.[4] Herenton went on to state that he ran for re-election only in order to protect the city of Memphis from the other main candidates, Herman Morris and Councilwoman Carol Chumney.[5] When the day came, Herenton failed to step down as Mayor and said he would serve out his term until 2011. In April 2009, however, Herenton formed an exploratory committee to run in the 2010 US Congressional Election for the 9th District of Tennessee, presumably in the Democratic primary against incumbent Steve Cohen.[6] On June 25, 2009, Herenton announced his resignation as Mayor, effective July 10.[7] On July 6, he announced that he would delay his retirement until July 30.[8]
He resigned from office on July 30, 2009. Memphis City Council Chairman Myron Lowery was appointed as mayor pro tempore, with a special election to be held on October 15. The law states that such an election must be held within 90 days of the resignation. On August 13, 2009, Herenton pulled a petition to run for the Mayoral office from which he had resigned only two weeks prior, raising questions of a possible lawsuit against the former Mayor for the more than $1 million in City funds needed for the October 15 special election.[9]
In his latter days in office, Herenton faced many criticisms from the citizens of Memphis for the following:
In 2010, Herenton announced that he would run against Congressman Steve Cohen in the Democratic Primary for Tennessee's 9th congressional district. The 9th is a heavily Democratic, black-majority district, and the Democratic primary has historically been the real contest.
In September 2009, Herenton drew controversy when he stated in a radio interview that Congressman Steve Cohen "really does not think very much of African-Americans" and that "[Cohen]’s played the black community well.” In addition, Herenton's campaign manager Sidney Chism told the New York Times that the Memphis-area congressional seat Cohen holds "was set aside for people who look like me. It wasn't set aside for a Jew or a Christian. It was set aside so that blacks could have representation." The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) criticized Herenton for these remarks, stating that his comments were "unacceptable in a Democratic primary or anywhere in our political discourse."[18][19]
Despite Herenton's attempts to isolate Cohen from the African-American voting demographic, Cohen received endorsements from both President Barack Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus.[20] Cohen won the Democratic primary election, while Herenton only gained 20% of the vote.[21]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Richard C. Hackett |
Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee 1992 - 2009 |
Succeeded by Myron Lowery |