Throwing My Hat in the Ring

The Unveiling
After a great deal of deliberation and conversations with family, friends, and supporters, I have decided to put my advocacy into action and run for Shelby County Commission District 1 Position 3.

The seat, made vacant with the resignation of former Commissioner Mike Carpenter, and temporarily filled by Commissioner Brent Taylor will appear on the March 6th Presidential Primary ballot. The general election is August 2nd.

District 1 has, for as long as I can remember, been considered a “Republican” district. When I interviewed for the appointment to the Commission, the fact that I am a Democrat seemed to be enough to disqualify me in the minds of many Republican Commissioners.

I don’t believe that political parties own districts, the people do. Who speaks best for an area should be based on their ideals, rather than one letter identifiers.

What’s more, no Democrat has run in District 1 in the past two election cycles. In fact, 12, of the 13 contests for County Commission in 2010 went uncontested in the General Election.

County Commission District 1
I think the people deserve a choice outside of low turnout partisan primaries, and believe that the low voter turnout in the August 2010 election is due, in part, to the lack of competitive races in the majority of Commission contests.

All that said, I understand the task ahead is going to be really difficult.

District 1 is a huge area that encompasses over 220,000 people. It begins in the heart of Midtown Memphis, and follows the Poplar Corridor all the way out past Germantown Parkway. Bounded in the North by the Bartlett City limits, and in the south by Southern Avenue, on out to 385 at Riverdale.

That’s a lot of folks to reach out to. It will take a lot of help from friends like you to make this campaign successful.

The filing deadline is next Thursday, December 8th at noon. I’ll have my petition ready and in the hands of the Election Commission sometime before then.

In the meantime, head on over to www.votesteveross.com and sign up for our email updates, or volunteer, drop me a line showing your support, or make a donation.

I appreciate everything this community has done to support me over the past several years, and look forward to the opportunity to give back through my service. Together we can make Shelby County stronger.

Sincerely,

Steve Ross

5 Replies to “Throwing My Hat in the Ring”

  1. Good luck Steve. You were one of my first Twitter friends! I only wish I could vote for you! (I live in Gtown, shh, don’t tell anyone!) Do you have a @votesteveross twitter account?

  2. Well I DO live in the District, and I plan to organize everyone I know who does to work their posteriors off to bring responsible, informed leadership to our community!! VOTE STEVE ROSS!!

  3. Looks like I’ll actually get to vote for you this time around. I’ve kept my residency there and I’m in your district.

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