Harris becomes new Democratic Party chairman in confidence vote

Michael Harris is the new chairman of the Shelby County Democratic Party after a three hour party convention Saturday that amounted to a confidence vote by the local party’s Grass Roots Council.

Harris claimed the chairmanship with a majority that was the simple majority he needed without a vote to spare.

Harris was running unopposed with state Sen. Raumesh Akbari announcing Friday she would not be seeking the chairmanship. Akbari’s withdrawal followed the exit of state Rep. London Lamar from the process and business owner Jeff Etheridge before that.

The nominations of Akbari and Lamar followed the party convention a week ago to select Grass Roots Council members who voted this week. At the party gathering a week ago, Harris and Etheridge were nominated from the floor. The period for nominations continued into the following Wednesday.

Read more: https://dailymemphian.com/article/4309/Harris-becomes-new-Democratic-Party-chairman-in-confidence-vote