MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Voters in Tennessee’s largest county have chosen Democrat Lee Harris as their next mayor.
Harris won 55 percent of votes in his victory over Republican David Lenoir in Thursday’s election for Shelby County mayor. Harris succeeds two-term Republican Mayor Mark Luttrell, who could not run again because of term limits.
Shelby County has about 930,000 people and includes the city of Memphis and its suburbs.
Harris is a University of Memphis law professor and a former Memphis City Council member. He served as the Senate Minority Leader in the General Assembly and has been outspoken on several issues, including his support of the removal of three statues of Confederate leaders from public parks in Memphis.
Lenoir played football at the University of Alabama and then worked in the financial services industry before he was elected to serve as the county Trustee – also known as the county’s banker – in 2010.