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← Back to Shelby County, Tennessee: Election on 2026-05-05

Contest for County Clerk

County Shelby County
primary - Partisan - County Clerk

About this office

The Shelby County Clerk's office is the busiest transactional office in county government. Its most visible function is the sale of motor-vehicle license plates β€” roughly 650,000 per year β€” but the Clerk also issues marriage licenses and disabled placards, and handles business-tax registrations. The County Clerk is a separate elected office from the Register of Deeds. The office is governed by state law and the position is limited to two consecutive four-year terms.

Term length: 4 years.

This role calls for

  • Administration of motor-vehicle registration, license plates, marriage licenses, and business-tax registrations for roughly 910,000 residents β€” a high-volume operation across a main office and satellite locations.
  • Working knowledge of Tennessee statutes governing each of those functions, which change regularly.
  • Customer-service capacity: the Clerk's office is one of the most-visited county offices by ordinary residents.
  • Financial controls for collecting state and local fees and remitting them accurately.
  • Supervision of a multi-location office staff handling high transaction volume; technology and process management as more services move online.

Derived from the office's statutory duties and operational reality. Candidate summaries below map each candidate's documented experience to these requirements.

Campaigns

Democratic Primary 11 candidates
Britney Thornton

Britney Thornton

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As Shelby County’s youngest commissioner, Britney Thornton brings community organizing experience and a background as a licensed social worker and educator. Her work founding JUICE Orange Mound demonstrates capacity for mobilizing residents and managing small-scale financial initiatives. A former law student, she possesses foundational legal exposure relevant to statutory interpretation. However, the biography lacks evidence of direct administrative experience with high-volume motor vehicle or business-tax operations.
James "Jeff" Fuller

James "Jeff" Fuller

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Fuller proposes modernizing online appointment systems and establishing a Southwest Super Center to address high-volume transaction management across satellite locations. His platform emphasizes customer service capacity through extended hours and dedicated accessibility seating for residents with disabilities. He advocates for financial controls by capturing non-resident tag decal revenue to reinvest in local infrastructure without raising taxes. Fuller positions himself as a small business owner and FedEx employee focused on operational efficiency and restoring integrity to the office.
Bennie Smith

Bennie Smith

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Smith currently serves as Motor Vehicle Registration Administrator for Shelby County Clerk’s Office, directly managing its largest operational division. This role provides immediate experience administering vehicle registrations and license plates for the county’s residents. His tenure as Secretary of the Shelby County Election Commission demonstrates administrative oversight in a high-volume public service environment. Corporate analytics roles at ABB and Thomas & Betts involved transforming over 100 million records and allocating $2 billion, indicating strong capacity for financial controls and process management.
Michael R. Williams

Michael R. Williams

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Not enough public information found to evaluate.
William Stovall

William Stovall

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Stovall’s fifteen-year tenure as a senior workers’ compensation adjuster involved managing complex claims and supervising junior staff, mapping to office supervision and high-volume transaction management. His background in evaluating liability and facilitating settlements aligns with financial controls for collecting and remitting fees. He holds a Political Science degree and business administration coursework, providing theoretical grounding for statutory knowledge and organizational leadership. Campaign materials emphasize streamlining vehicle registration and business licensing processes to improve customer service efficiency.
Bob Green

Bob Green

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Green’s thirty-one years in logistics and property oversight demonstrate experience managing high-volume operations and complex supply chains. His current role in law enforcement evidence management highlights a background requiring zero-error precision, relevant to financial controls and statutory compliance. He proposes triage systems and satellite drop-off locations at community hubs to address customer-service capacity and neighborhood access for the Clerk’s office. Green plans to audit leases and replace outdated technology to improve process management across multiple locations.
Myra Charles

Myra Charles

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Charles proposes modernizing operations via kiosks, mobile services, and extended hours to reduce wait times for tag renewals and other high-volume transactions. She pledges to improve customer service through streamlined processes and expanded translation resources for diverse populations, including seniors and Hispanic residents. Her platform emphasizes transparency by publishing regular updates on fees and fund utilization to ensure clear accountability. Charles aims to establish open feedback channels and measurable performance goals to guide decision-making.
Arriell Gipson-Martin

Arriell Gipson-Martin

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Gipson-Martin served as a senior program manager and public health coordinator for Shelby County Government, providing direct experience in local administration and community engagement relevant to high-volume customer service operations. Her campaign emphasizes innovation in service delivery and integrity, aligning with goals for process management and financial controls. She previously sought this office in 2022, gaining familiarity with the role’s scope. However, her biography lacks specific details regarding statutory knowledge of motor-vehicle or marriage laws, experience supervising multi-location staff, or background in managing complex fee remittance systems.
Ed Holt, Jr.

Ed Holt, Jr.

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As a former accountant for the Shelby County Clerk’s Office in 2023, the candidate possesses direct experience with financial controls and fee collection processes central to the role. His proposal for a Texas-style real-time plate delivery system demonstrates specific knowledge of motor-vehicle registration challenges and technology management. A career educator since 2006 suggests strong communication skills relevant to high-volume customer service interactions. Military service indicates discipline in supervision and process management. However, the biography lacks evidence regarding working knowledge of Tennessee statutes governing marriage licenses or business-tax registrations.
George "Dempsy" Summers

George "Dempsy" Summers

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Summers ran for Shelby County Register of Deeds in 2022, securing 3.7% of the vote. He previously sought the Republican nomination for Probate Court clerk in 2018 and withdrew from the Democratic primary for General Sessions Court clerk in 2024. These roles involve handling legal documents and court records, which may relate to marriage license administration and business-tax registration oversight. However, his campaigns do not demonstrate experience managing high-volume motor-vehicle operations or supervising multi-location staff. The biography lacks details on education, family, or specific training in Tennessee statutes governing fee collection and financial controls.
LaSonya Hall

LaSonya Hall

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Hall’s twenty-five years as a senior executive administrator in city and county government demonstrate capacity for high-volume office supervision and process management. Her tenure directing the Health Department during the pandemic, including establishing a mass vaccination site, evidences operational scale handling. She proposes strategic planning to redesign workflows and expand digital services, addressing technology management needs. Advocating for automated innovation via vending machines aligns with modernizing motor-vehicle registration processes.
Republican Primary 1 candidate
Tina Montgomery

Tina Montgomery

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Montgomery’s thirty-year accounting background demonstrates financial integrity relevant to collecting and remitting state fees. Her campaign platform emphasizes operational efficiency, promising digital queuing systems to manage high transaction volumes across locations. She pledges transparent leadership to protect taxpayer dollars, addressing financial controls. Montgomery also commits to a staff focused on citizen care and compliance, mapping to customer-service demands. However, her biography lacks specific details regarding direct experience administering motor-vehicle registrations or marriage licenses.