The race is on…

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

I’ve spent a lot of time in this column looking at the 2024 presidential election. And sure, it’s important, but let’s cast a narower net and note that there are a bunch of races right here in Crittenden County coming up this November.

Yes, every community in the county, from the tiny enclaves like Jericho and Edmondson to larger cities like Marion and West Memphis, there are more 60 municipal city council races to be decided in just about three months’ time.

Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration as more than half of those positions only have one candidate on the ballot. But there are plenty of contested races to sort through, which I’m always glad to see. Even if I think an elected official is doing a good job, I always like to see concerned citizens throw their hats in the ring and give politics a try. Not only is it refreshing to get a

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few new faces — political hopefuls throwing their names in the hat for the first time — it also increases voter interest if they are having to choose from a slate of candidates instead of seeing a bunch of unopposed in cumbents (as a bit of a bonus, it also seems to have a way of lighting a fire under those incumbents to see another name in the candidate list next to theirs — I wonder why that is?).

I won’t pretend to have a stranglehold on the intricacies of local politics, but I have been reporting on them in one capacity or another for the past 14-plus years. And I’m always interested to see which incumbents are looking to keep their seats, which ones are stepping aside to let someone else take a turn at it and which concerned citizens think they have something to contribute to the local government (or maybe, which ones think the ones currently in power are doing a badjob and think they can do better).

Five of the 10 seats on the West Memphis City Council are up for a vote this time around (the other five were up in 2022 and they rotate each cycle on a four-year term, I suppose to ensure we don’t have a complete turnover on the council in one elections).

All five seats have seen the incumbent file for re-election and interestingly, all but one of those returning council members have at least one challenger (Melanie Hutchinson is unopposed in her effort to remain the alderwoman for Ward 2).

Longtime City Councilman Tracy Catt is actually facing two challengers for his Ward 1 seat, from Jessica Burns and Dr. Alfreda Robinson. I don’t actually know either of them but I did Facebook stalk them and they both seem pretty nice and are active in the community. I do know Tracy Catt and I like him. I don’t live in West Memphis so I don’t really have a dog in this race but I’m looking forward to the competition.

In Ward 3, Wayne Croom is running for re-election. He will have Joseph Tucker Jr. as an opponent. I’ve known Wayne pretty much my whole life, so it’s kind of hard to root against him. His opponent is a younger-looking fellow (and since I’m 50, that covers a lot of ground but still…) and I’m always glad to see another generation come up and take up the game.

In Ward 4, David Murray will be looking to keep his seat on the council. His challenger will be Tyrone McWright.

Murray began his tenure after I became editor so I wasn’t covering council meetings by the time he was in office. I know McWright from his other political adventures.

Should be a tight race.

Now Willis Mondy I do know from my time on the council beat. He is very, very involved in city affairs as the Ward 5 senior councilman. Al Felton, who has run for a number of offices in the past will be challenging him.

Should be an evenful election!