Former U.S. Sen. Bob Corker will lead a statewide, bipartisan coalition of elected leaders urging Tennesseans to approve a ballot measure that would delete a reference to slavery from the Tennessee Constitution. The “Vote Yes on 3” campaign is aimed at removing language that allows slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment for a criminal conviction. The exact provision reads: “That slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are forever prohibited by this State.” The amendment will be on the Nov. 8 ballot, Tennessee Lookout reports.

Goodlettsville attorney Jesse Walker has announced his candidacy for the local city commission. He is currently in-house counsel for Roadie, a UPS company, working in the gig logistics space. Walker graduated from Nashville School of Law and became an attorney in Tennessee in 2019. He also earned degrees from Belmont University and Volunteer State Community College. A Sumner County native, Walker says he sees opportunity in Goodlettsville for a more prosperous small business community, smarter city growth and planning, and improved city services and programs. Learn more about his campaign at www.JesseWalker.com.

Voters going to the polls in November will decide whether to enshrine Tennessee’s “right-to-work” law in the state constitution, and the campaigns for and against the proposal are heating up, Tennessee Lookout reports. Supporters of Amendment 1 are promoting a “Yes on 1” message and have released a new video of Gov. Bill Lee and former Gov. Bill Haslam urging voters to support the measure. Opponents have launched a campaign featuring Tennessee union members speaking against the proposal. They also take issue with the term “right-to-work,” saying it is misleading. The right-to-work movement grew out of labor organizing efforts in the 1930s and 1940s. The 1947 federal Taft-Hartley Act permitted states to establish such laws. Tennessee enacted its law the same year. Legislation approving the addition of the amendment to the ballot passed in the last two legislative years, as required by law.

Among the upsets in Shelby County yesterday, Memphis City Court Judge Tarik Sugarmon won over incumbent Juvenile Court Judge Dan Michael and attorneys Dee Shawn Peoples and William Ray Glasgow. Michael, who inherited a 2012 agreement for U.S. Justice Department oversight of Juvenile Court, portrayed himself as a reformer during the campaign, but Sugarman argued he was not serious about reform given his efforts to end federal oversight. The victory breaks a chain of juvenile court judges that stretches back more than 50 years from the late Kenneth Turner, to his handpicked successor Curtis Person Jr., to Michael, who was first hired by Turner. The Daily Memphian has more on judicial races in the county.

Rutherford County Republican Travis Lampley won the race for juvenile court judge yesterday, besting independent Andrae Crismon in the high-profile election to replace retiring Judge Donna Scott Davenport. Davenport had served in the role since 2000 but had faced increasing criticism, and a class action lawsuit, for the mistreatment of children under her jurisdiction. Lampley acknowledged the lack of trust in the court, saying his ultimate goal is to restore confidence in the juvenile justice system. A former assistant district attorney, Lampley will take office on Sept. 1. The Daily News Journal has the story.

New district attorneys will be taking office in Hamilton and Shelby counties after yesterday’s election. Republican Coty Wamp won over Democrat John Allen Brooks for district attorney in Hamilton County. She previously was a public defender and a prosecutor, and most recently was special counsel for Sheriff Jim Hammond. Brooks was a former county commissioner, according to Chattanoogan.com. In Shelby County, voters replaced incumbent Republican Amy Weirich with Democratic challenger Steve Mulroy, the Commercial Appeal reports. Promising reform in the district attorney's office, Mulroy ran on a progressive platform and said his first priorities will include diversifying the office, beginning a conviction review unit and reviewing bail policies. A law professor at the University of Memphis since 2000, Mulroy is also a former civil rights lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department and a former federal prosecutor. In Nashville, Glen Funk did not face Republican opposition. In Knoxville, Republican incumbent Charme Allen won over her Democratic challenger, Jackson Fenner, WATE reports.

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles has secured the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District despite a barrage of attack ads and federal campaign finance issues, the Tennessean reports. Ogles comfortably carried five of the district's six counties, while former state House speaker Beth Harwell won Davidson County. Ogles will face Democrat Heidi Campbell in the November election to succeed Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville. Campbell, a state senator, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The newly redrawn district includes parts of Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties and all of Lewis, Marshall and Maury counties.

Jason Martin will face Republican Gov. Bill Lee in the November general election after winning the Democratic gubernatorial primary yesterday. Martin beat out Carnita Atwater and JB Smiley Jr. in the primary, the Nashville Post reports. Martin is a surgeon who lives in Nashville. He raised more money than either of his competitors. Smiley is a Memphis City councilmember and the only candidate in the primary with experience in elected office. Atwater is a community organizer in Memphis.

Polls are open until 7 p.m. CDT today for Tennessee’s primary election to determine party nominees for governor, Congress and state legislative seats, the Associated Press reports. Early voting turnout was down 23.8% this year compared to the 2018 election when there was an open governor’s race with contested Republican and Democratic primaries. Compared with the same point in 2014, turnout is down 15.4%. The AP has a statewide look at tonight’s election and more information. Live results from local elections can be found here for Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and Shelby counties. Results from any race can be found on the Tennessee Secretary of State's website. 

In the third edition of the TBA Criminal Justice Section’s survey of candidates in contested district attorney general races across the state, we hear from Shelby County candidates: District Attorney Amy Weirich (incumbent) and challenger Steve Mulroy, a criminal defense lawyer and professor at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. The section asked them seven questions, including how they will address rising homicide rates, their views on bail bond reform, and whether they believe racial and ethnic disparities exist within the criminal justice system. Read the full interviews. Voters will decide contested district attorney general races across the state tomorrow.