Shelby County Commissioners are expected to select their new chairman in a few hours, a vote that could determine the county's next mayor (presuming a chain of events starting with the promised resignation of Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton.)
As reporter Daniel Connolly wrote this weekend, Republican Commissioner Joyce Avery, the current vice chair, was the presumed shoo-in. That is, until rumors leaked that Democrat Deidre Malone may compete to keep her chairman seat for a second year.
Malone has already made it known she's considering a run for Shelby County mayor. And if Herenton resigns and sitting county Mayor A C Wharton wins a special election to replace him, the commission chairman will take over as interim mayor.
If Malone becomes mayor even temporarily, she could gain some notable advantages, including lots of name recognition, when she campaigns for the 2010 county mayoral race.
Surely Commissioner Sidney Chism, a Democrat, thought about that when he was quoted in support of Avery, saying "it's not right for us to break our commitment to Commissioner Avery, whether she's a Republican or a Democrat."
Chism, who a few months ago considered his own run against Avery for commission chairman, is a longtime supporter of Harold Byrd, who is also considering a run for county mayor. Byrd has said Chism was among a group of business and civic leaders encouraging him to jump into the mayor's race.
This should be interesting. I'm sure that Republicans didn't have Joyce in mind for county mayor when they asked her to run against Clair Vander Schaaf eight years ago. As one of 13 commissioners, it was easy to hide her. They won't be able to hide her (or her lack of grey matter) as commission chairman or (God forbid) county mayor.