MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A couple of guys named Joe fared pretty well on the Shelby County ballot in Tuesday’s election. Most of the attention naturally has gone to Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden – who came up off the deck to win with ease in Shelby County, in Tennessee and nine other Super Tuesday states.
But let’s not leave out the other Joe on the ballot: the former city councilman Joe Brown. He finished first in the Democratic primary for General Sessions Court clerk. He will now face Republican Paul Boyd in the August election. Boyd is a former Probate Court clerk. Just like Biden, Brown took advantage of his familiar name – and the fact that he has been on a local ballot more times than anyone in local politics, with the exception of City Court Clerk Myron Lowery.
No doubt some of the 20,602 voters who cast ballots for Brown thought they were voting for another Joe Brown. You know, the former Criminal Court Judge who later became famous for dispensing justice on TV.
But the fact is, the Joe Brown on Tuesday’s ballot served 21 years on the city council. And while he was not the most effective council member or the most knowledgeable, he has won every election in which he was candidate – except one. And the reason is, voters know Joe – or at least they think they do. And that’s my point of view.