{"campaigns":[{"candidatename":"LaSonya Hall","chatgptsummary":"LaSonya Hall has been Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Shelby County Government since October 2018 \u2014 a senior administrative role over county operations. Prior positions include Deputy Director of Parks and Neighborhoods at the City of Memphis (2010\u20132016), where she managed budgets and staff across more than ten city divisions, and Deputy Director and Policy Analyst at the City of Memphis (2003\u20132009), where she administered a $26 million Executive Division operating budget and presented it to City Council. She holds a Ph.D. (University of Mississippi), an MPA (UAB), and a BA (Jackson State University).","notes":null,"party":"D","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n\nLaSonya Hall is the Democratic nominee for Shelby County Clerk on the August 6, 2026 general-election ballot, having won the Democratic primary on May 5, 2026 [1][2]. Her campaign website is lasonyahall.com [2].\n\n## Career\n\nHall has been Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Shelby County Government since October 2018 [3]. The role is a senior administrative position under the County Mayor's office, with broad portfolio responsibilities across county operations.\n\nBeginning March 16, 2021, Hall additionally served as interim director of the Shelby County Health Department, taking over when Director Alisa Haushalter resigned during the COVID-19 vaccination rollout [4]. The interim assignment was in addition to her continuing Deputy CAO duties and ran until a permanent successor (Michelle Taylor) was named later that year. Her campaign account credits this period with the launch of the Whitehaven mass-vaccination site [2].\n\nBefore joining Shelby County Government, Hall briefly held the Partnerships Manager role at Shelby County Schools (July to October 2018) and was Director of Postsecondary Strategic Systems at Leadership Memphis (July 2016 to July 2018) [3].\n\nFrom 2003 to 2016 she had a thirteen-year career at the City of Memphis under multiple administrations. As Deputy Director of Parks and Neighborhoods (2010\u20132016), she had management responsibility for personnel and budgets across Public Relations, Community Affairs, Re-entry, the Memphis Music Commission, the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board, Memphis Animal Services, Motor Vehicle Inspection, the Memphis Library and Information Center, and the Neighborhood Watch Program [3]. Before that, as Deputy Director and Policy Analyst (2003\u20132009), she managed the city's Executive Division operating budget of approximately $26 million, presented budgets to the City Council, and served as liaison between the CAO's office and council members on policy implementation [3].\n\nEarlier in her career Hall was Associate Director of Research at the University of Mississippi (2000\u20132003), where she administered the university's $44.1 million research portfolio including pre- and post-award contract management for sponsored research [3]. From 1994 to 1999 she was Environmental Justice Program Director at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH-NIEHS) in Bethesda, Maryland, where she organized regional and federal workshops on health disparities, socioeconomic status, and environmental exposures [3].\n\n## Background and education\n\nHall holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration from the University of Mississippi (2003), a Master of Public Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (1994), and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Jackson State University (1992) [3].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [LaSonya Hall - JustMyMemphis interview](https://www.justmymemphis.com/view-post/3777)\n[2] [LaSonya Hall for County Clerk - campaign website](https://www.lasonyahall.com/)\n[3] [LaSonya Hall - LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lasonya-hall-4a0896b8/) (LinkedIn requires login; professional history above reflects the public profile as of May 2026.)\n[4] [Haushalter serves last day as director of Shelby Co. Health Dept. - Action News 5 (March 16, 2021)](https://www.actionnews5.com/2021/03/16/haushalter-serves-last-day-director-shelby-co-health-dept/)\n[5] [Statement of Interest, 2026 Shelby County Clerk filing - TN Ethics Commission](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=HALL&id=103877&f=198130&v=1)","firstname":"LaSonya","lastname":"Hall","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"PL9XtdzmXI"},"token":"lasonya_hall"},{"candidatename":"Tina Montgomery","chatgptsummary":"Tina Montgomery is the Republican candidate for Shelby County Clerk on the August 6, 2026 ballot. Her professional background per public sources is in accounting, with more than thirty years of experience described as focused on financial integrity and operational excellence. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Memphis. She founded Benevout Community Service Corp, a nonprofit providing affordable housing for Shelby County's working homeless, and serves as Chair of Membership Outreach for the Shelby County Republican Women's Club. Bio does not indicate prior elected experience or public-sector administrative leadership.","notes":null,"party":"R","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\nTina Montgomery is the Republican nominee for Shelby County Clerk on the August 6, 2026 general-election ballot [1]. She was unopposed in the May 5, 2026 Republican primary [2]. She faces Democratic nominee LaSonya Hall in the general election. The seat is open \u2014 no incumbent is running.\n\nIn her Ballotpedia candidate survey, Montgomery describes her platform priorities as financial accountability, customer service, and modernization of clerk's-office systems, including a stated interest in digital queuing and streamlined service workflows [1].\n\n## Career\nPer public sources, Montgomery's professional background is in accounting, described as more than thirty years of experience focused on financial integrity and operational excellence [1]. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Memphis [1].\n\n## Sources\n[1] [Tina Montgomery - Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Tina_Montgomery)\n[2] [May 5, 2026 Shelby County primary results - enhancedvoting.com](https://app.enhancedvoting.com/results/public/shelby-county-tn/elections/050526PrimaryMunicipal) (Montgomery was unopposed in the Republican primary)\n[3] [Statement of Interest, 2026 Shelby County Clerk filing - TN Ethics Commission](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=MONTGOMERY&id=103892&f=198347&v=1)","firstname":"Tina","lastname":"Montgomery","middlename":null,"suffix":null,"token":"GUECgcAo1Y"},"token":"tina_montgomery"}],"choices":null,"description":null,"district":"shelby","districtgroup":"county","districtgroupname":"County","districtname":null,"job_type":"county_clerk","o.office":"county_clerk","office":"county_clerk","officedescription":"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 \u2014 roughly 650,000 per year \u2014 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.","officequalities":"- Administration of motor-vehicle registration, license plates, marriage licenses, and business-tax registrations for roughly 910,000 residents \u2014 a high-volume operation across a main office and satellite locations.\n- Working knowledge of Tennessee statutes governing each of those functions, which change regularly.\n- Customer-service capacity: the Clerk's office is one of the most-visited county offices by ordinary residents.\n- Financial controls for collecting state and local fees and remitting them accurately.\n- Supervision of a multi-location office staff handling high transaction volume; technology and process management as more services move online.","officeterm":4,"officetitle":"County Clerk","partisan":1,"pgr":"general","quantity":1,"referendum":null,"source":null,"title":"County Clerk"}