Credit to Sam Hardiman with The Daily Memphian, who first reported this morning that the required financial disclosures for some of the leading county mayoral candidates are a week late today. As of 10:40 a.m. today, candidates JB Smiley, Mickell Lowery, and Harold Collins had not submitted the required accounting of contributions received and expenses incurred during the first quarter of this year. All candidates for state and local offices were required to submit them by the close of business on Friday, April 10th.
Former superintendent, Dr. Marie Feagins submitted her disclosure this morning showing only $19,808 raised and $21,218 on hand. Candidates John DeBerry, Heidi Kuhn, and Melvin Burgess submitted their reports on time. DeBerry, the de facto Republican nominee, raised $20,675 and spent $5,243. Kuhn raised $32,685 and spent $179,489, coinciding with recent broadcast ads. Burgess raised $10,168 and spent $15,943.
Yet, since the beginning of the campaign season and through the end of 2025, Smiley and Lowery have far outraised their opponents, with each totaling around $500,000. The combination of strong fundraising, bases of support, and name recognition combines to improve the chance that one of them will be Shelby County’s next mayor. Less than 3 weeks from Election Day, neither has filed their required reports. To be fair, there are numerous candidates, several in the race for County Clerk, who also have not filed their disclosures.
Why it matters
The reason they have not filed likely comes down to one of two reasons:
1. The pace and urgency at this point of the campaign have pushed paperwork, required or not, to the back burner, and their teams haven’t had time to compile the information; or
2. Neither wants the other to know how they are spending their funds in the critical last weeks of the election. This is understandable strategically, but disclosures aren’t about the candidates; they are about the public.
Besides ignoring the law, which should raise a “red flag” for each of us, failing to file leaves outsized influences of special interests in the shadows. Large contributions from controversial figures or powerful industry political action committees do not become public knowledge until it’s too late. Voters are unable to take into account whether a candidate is too heavily influenced by certain people or professions prior to casting a vote.
Realistically, there are other legal ways for the unsavory to support candidates and shield that support from public knowledge, or to at least make it harder to find. Disclosure is not the single answer to curtailing political influence. However, failure to file or to file timely may say something about a candidate’s commitment to transparency once elected.
Access to consequential public records and information has long been a battle waged mostly by media outlets against local government and quasi-government entities, but sometimes by individuals and advocacy organizations, too. Just this past February, ACLU and Stand for Children filed suit against the City of Memphis because of failure to release police use-of-force and misconduct records. Shelby County Government has not been immune from lawsuits regarding public information either.
Reporters like Sam Hardiman, political candidates, and nerds like me may be the only ones reviewing financial disclosures, but that’s not the point. An unwillingness to be transparent or considering transparency a low priority is not a characteristic we should accept from folks desiring to be the chief executive of our county.
In eleven days, on April 28th, pre-primary disclosure is required. Smily, Lowery, and Collins should catch up with the 1st quarter filing and file the pre-primary disclosure on time. It’s a simple step to communicate that they don’t believe they are above the law and that transparency will be a priority if they are elected.