Judge rules against residency requirement for Memphis mayor’s race
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two candidates for Memphis mayor are back in the race after they were first told they couldn’t run because of residency requirements.
County Commissioner Van Turner and Sheriff Floyd Bonner fought a city charter requirement that a mayoral candidate must live in the city limits for at least five years.
A judge Thursday decided in their favor.
In 1996, voters passed a referendum ending the residency requirement for city council candidates. Turner and Bonner agrued that included mayoral candidates, too.
Bonner lived in Bartlett when he launched his campaign but has since moved into the Memphis city limits. Turner, who’s also an attorney and president of the Memphis NAACP, says he lived outside Memphis in an area that was set to be annexed by the city until it was blocked by the state.
City elections for mayor and city council are scheduled for Oct. 5. Floyd Bonner, Joe Brown, Karen Camper,Frank Colvett, J.W. Gibson, Willie Herenton, Michelle McKissack, Van Turner and Paul Young are running for mayor.
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