Premium

Feagins’ county mayoral bid could be in jeopardy

By , Daily Memphian Updated: February 20, 2026 4:43 PM CT | Published: February 20, 2026 4:26 PM CT

Tennessee Democratic party leaders will determine Saturday, Feb. 21, if Marie Feagins will be permitted to run for Shelby County Mayor in the May 5 county primaries.

Shelby County Democratic Party Chairman Willie Simon says the local party’s primary board has asked the state primary board to review the voting record of the former superintendent of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. The state primary board makes the decision on whether Feagins meets the party’s definition of a “bona fide” Democrat and therefore can or cannot appear on the Democratic primary ballot.

“The local primary board doesn’t really make the final decision. That is done at the state level,” Simon told The Daily Memphian. “There were some questions as it relates to her voting history that they need to validate to move forward with that.”

This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.

Topics

Marie Feagins Willie Simon Tennessee Democratic Party 2026 County Mayor's Race Subscriber Only

Thank you for being a subscriber to The Daily Memphian. Your support is critical.

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit news organization with a hybrid business model, we rely on a mix of revenue from subscriptions (50%), advertising, events and miscellaneous earned income (25%) and fundraising (25%).

Please consider making a fully tax-deductible donation or other contribution to The Daily Memphian today. 

👉 Your subscription pays for you to read all our journalism.

👉 Your donation powers the work we do to reach everyone else with the news.

We believe an informed Memphis is a better Memphis. If you agree, join our growing list of donors now.

Bill Dries on demand

Never miss an article. Sign up to receive Bill Dries' stories as they’re published.

Enter your e-mail address

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Bill Dries

Bill Dries

Bill Dries covers city and county government and politics. He is a native Memphian and has been a reporter for almost 50 years covering a wide variety of stories from the 1977 death of Elvis Presley and the 1978 police and fire strikes to numerous political campaigns, every county mayor and every Memphis Mayor starting with Wyeth Chandler.


Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here