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Contest for Chancellor Part 2 (unexpired)
County
Shelby County
general - Non-partisan - Chancellor Part 2
About this office
Chancellors are the judges of the Shelby County Chancery Court, a court of equity that hears matters including divorces, enforcement of trusts and contracts, delinquent property-tax sales, enforcement of arbitration awards, writs of mandamus, removal of public officers, and other equitable claims. Shelby County elects three chancellors, each presiding over a numbered Part. Part 2 is one of those seats. Chancellors serve partisan eight-year terms.
Term length: 8 years.
This role calls for
- Hears equity matters in a Tennessee chancery court: contracts, real-property disputes, divorces (in counties without a separate domestic-relations division), trusts and estates, and other actions traditionally outside the law side of court.
- Judicial temperament: the willingness to listen, deliberate, and apply the law dispassionately to people whose lives are deeply affected by the outcome.
- Impartiality and ethics under the Tennessee Rules of Judicial Conduct, including disqualification when conflicts arise.
- Working knowledge of the substantive and procedural law applied in the assigned court (cited per court below) and the published precedent that controls.
- Docket management β moving cases efficiently while honoring due process and the time pressures that fall on litigants and witnesses.
- Clear written and oral explanation of rulings, so the parties and the public can follow the reasoning.
Derived from the office's statutory duties and operational reality. Candidate summaries below map each candidate's documented experience to these requirements.
Campaigns
Lonnie Thompson
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Thompson holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and has served as a Shelby County General Sessions judge since 1998, providing direct experience in civil litigation and docket management. His tenure includes presiding over contract and real-property disputes, offering practical insight into procedural law. He currently serves as President of the Tennessee General Sessions Judges Conference, indicating leadership in judicial administration. Thompsonβs background as a solo practitioner and assistant city attorney further grounds his understanding of substantive legal issues.
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Jim Newsom
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No campaign summary available.
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Kenneth Margolis
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No campaign summary available.