Democratic nominee Mickell Lowery is set to become the next mayor of Shelby County after defeating Republican nominee John DeBerry.
Lowery is set to succeed Lee Harris, who has held the position for eight years.
Lowery established an early lead as results rolled in, quickly netting a large portion of the vote. As of around 10 p.m., he led with over 65% of the vote.
The mayor-elect gave a brief speech to a packed crowd at Minglewood Hall in Midtown Memphis.
He identified early childhood education, healthcare, development and the growth of the county as key goals of his administration.
"I need y'all to be right there with me as we take our case to make our county continue to be, not only the best county in the state but the best county of the United
States," he said.
At the end of his speech, he shouted out former Memphis Mayors Willie Herenton and A.C. Wharton, and current Memphis Mayor Paul Young, whom he said he'd be a strong partner for.
"Paul," he said, "let's go get to work."
Lowery's opponent, DeBerry, is a former Democratic state representative turned senior advisor to Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee.
For several years before he was ousted from the Democratic Party, DeBerry had sided with Republicans in the legislature on issues like school choice and abortion, and he’d faced a number of challenges to his party credentials.
Election results are unofficial until certified by local and state election bodies.
Who is Mickell Lowery?
Lowery, 48, was first elected to the Shelby County Commission in 2018. He won reelection in 2022 and is also the managing director of sales at FedEx.
He's also the son of Myron Lowery, a longtime City Councilman and former Memphis mayor who died in September 2025.
Lowery won the Democratic primary with just over 32% of the vote, around 8 points ahead of the runner-up, Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr.
Washington, DC and Nashville have recently exercised a greater level of influence over Memphis and Shelby County, including major redistricting and state takeovers of Memphis-Shelby County Schools and the city's airport board. That relationship is something the next mayor will have to navigate.
Shelby County should be governed by people in Shelby County, Lowery said, but when it comes to collaboration with the state, “we need it, quite frankly,” he said.
“I believe that if we have a strong mayor in the Shelby County mayor’s office that knows how to build relationships, that knows how to collaborate and…that says ‘hey, I understand we got some things we got to do better, but that doesn’t mean that we need to be having any takeovers or anything of that nature,'” he said.
Jack Armstrong covers breaking news and the environment for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at jack.armstrong@commercialappeal.com and followed on X @jca2902.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Mickell Lowery defeats John DeBerry in race for Shelby County Mayor
