Shelby County Republican Party (Tennessee)
The Shelby County Republican Party is the Republican political organization for Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee. It has a long history of impacting politics in Shelby County long before the Republican Party was popular in the south.
It is the second largest Republican Party in the state, behind Knoxville's.[1]
History
The party has its origins in the Lincoln League, which was founded by Robert Church, Jr. in 1916 to promote black voter registration. Church was one of the most prominent African-American businessmen in the nation and is credited with the early development of Beale Street. By the 1950s conservative Democrats were joining the party as blacks were leaving.[1]
In the 1970s the party remade itself as a suburb-focused party that relied on activities like backyard parties, door-to-door campaigning and telephone networks to coordinate conservative voters in the suburbs.[1]
Starting in 1992, the party began holding a primary election to pick candidates in the general election. It was scheduled for the same day as Tennessee's presidential primary, and represented the first partisan local elections in the County since before 1900. The county Democratic party soon copied the practice. The move meant the end of nearly a century of nonpartisan elections in the county.[2]
Chairpersons
| Robert Church, Jr. | (1910's) | leading African-American businessman, founded Lincoln League (1916), founder of Memphis NAACP (1917) | |
| Lt. George W. Lee | (1920's-1940's) | ||
| Walker Wellford, Jr. | (1954-?) | ||
| Dr. R.Q. Venson | (1954-1970) | Alternate to the Republican National Convention in 1956; founder and general chairman of the Cotton Makers' (currently Kemet) Jubilee | |
| Bob James | (1961-1963) | Memphis City Councilman | |
| Governor Winfield Dunn | (1963-1967) | Governor of Tennessee (1971-1975) | |
| Judge Harry W. Wellford | (1967-1969) | ||
| Alex Dann | (1969-1971) | ||
| Dr. Kyle Creson | (1971-1973) | ||
| Bill Lawson | (1973-1975) | ||
| Governor Don Sundquist | (1975-1977) | Congressman(Dist. 7 1983-1995), Governor of Tennessee (1995-2003) | |
| William H. Watkins, Jr. | (1977-1979) | ||
| Tom Pyron | (1979-1981) | ||
| Maida Pearson Smith | (1981-1985) | ||
| Jack J. Craddock | (1985-1987) | ||
| John L. Ryder | (1987-1991) | Republican National Committeeman (-2004) | |
| Dr. Phil Langsdon | (1991-1995) | Author of Tennessee, A Political History | |
| David Kustoff | (1995-1999) | Chairman of Tennessee campaigns for George W. Bush (2000, 2004), 2002 Candidate for Congress (Dist. 7) Current US Attorney for the Western District of TN | |
| Alan Crone | (1999-2003) | ||
| R. Kemp Conrad | (2003-2005) | Memphis City Councilman (2008-) | |
| Bill Giannini | (2005-2009) | Shelby County Election Commission Chairman (2009) | |
| Lang Wiseman | (2009-2011) | ||
| Justin Joy | (2011-2015) | ||
| Mary Wagner | (2015-Present) |
References
- 1 2 3 Dries, Bill (2003-03-09). "GOP LEADER: OUTREACH CRUCIAL - NEW CHAIRMAN MAKING WAVES WITHIN OWN PARTY". Commercial Appeal. pp. B1.
- ↑ Bernsen, Charles (1991-12-06). "COUNTY GOP SWITCHES TO PARTY VOTING IN PRIMARIES". Commercial Appeal. pp. A1.