← Back to Shelby County, Tennessee: Election on 2026-05-05
Contest for County Commissioner District 3
County Commission
3
primary - Partisan - County Commissioner District 3
About this office
Shelby County Commissioners are the 13 members of the county's legislative body. Each represents a single-member district, and together they pass resolutions and ordinances, approve the annual county budget, set the property-tax rate, and set countywide policy. They attend regular Monday commission meetings and Wednesday committee meetings and must complete at least seven hours of continuing education each year through the UT County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS).
Salary: $34,900/year (Action News 5, Dec 2021).
Term length: 4 years.
This role calls for
- Policy judgment on countywide matters β budget, taxes, land use, services, intergovernmental β within Tennessee county-government law and the Shelby County Charter.
- Budget literacy: the 13-member commission approves the county budget, sets the property-tax rate, and authorizes bond issues that span decades.
- Legislative process: drafting, amending, and voting on resolutions and ordinances; chairing or sitting on committees that pre-screen items.
- Constituent relations in a single-member district of roughly 70,000 residents β case-work and community issues flow through the commissioner's office.
- Willingness to complete the state-required seven hours of annual continuing education through UT CTAS.
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
1 candidate
Ryan Ramkhelawan
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Ramkhelawan seeks the Shelby County Commissioner District 3 seat in the May 2026 Democratic primary, facing Republican Michele Dial in August. The provided biography offers no evidence of prior elected office, professional background, or educational history. Consequently, there is no documented record of policy judgment on countywide matters such as budgeting, land use, or intergovernmental relations within Tennessee law. The text does not demonstrate budget literacy regarding the commissionβs authority over taxes and bonds. It also fails to show experience with legislative processes like drafting ordinances or committee work.
Republican Primary
1 candidate
Michele Dial
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Nearly three terms as Lakeland Commissioner and two peer-elected Vice Mayorships demonstrate direct experience in local legislative processes and constituent relations within a single-member district. Her thirty-six-year public education career provides context for her stated priority on education policy. As a Republican candidate, she aims to address transparency of county and MSCS budget dollars, reflecting an interest in fiscal accountability. However, the biography offers no specific evidence regarding her literacy with Shelby Countyβs complex budgeting, tax rates, or bond authorization processes.