Tom Leatherwood Cleans House With Endorsements

Many thanks to Pat McGarrity of the TFA for this information. I wonder how Marsha pissed off these folks.

Austin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 14, 2008
Contact: Chris Wilson at 901/ 652-8487
Arlington, TN – The list of area elected officials endorsing Tom Leatherwood for Congress in the 7th Congressional District is now at 30, with supporters including Shelby County and Fayette County Commissioners, city and county mayors and aldermen, Board of Education members, and members of the state legislature and Memphis City Council. Leatherwood is challenging incumbent Marsha Blackburn in the August 7 Republican Primary.
“The incumbent hasn’t been there when students and taxpayers needed her help to cut red tape and deal with the Washington bureaucracy,” said David Pickler, Chairman of the Shelby County Board of Education.  “Representing the people of your district in their dealings with the federal government is important.  Tom Leatherwood understands this.”
Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald added, “I think Tom is in tune with the needs of Bartlett and other towns in the 7th District. I know him and I trust him to do a good job in Washington.”
According to Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy, “Tom has demonstrated the willingness and ability to make government work more effectively and efficiently.  In these economic times we need those skills in Washington.”
 “I’m honored that so many of my colleagues have joined in my campaign and I’m excited that the list is growing daily,” said Leatherwood, the Shelby County Register of Deeds.  “It means something when people you work with regularly give their public endorsement.”
In addition to Pickler, McDonald, and Goldsworthy, Leatherwood earned endorsements from Henderson County Mayor Dennis Ray McDaniel, Former Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris,  and Arlington Mayor Russell Wiseman.

Also endorsing are Shelby County Commissioners Wyatt Bunker, George Flinn, and Mike Ritz as well as Fayette County Commissioners Joann Allen, Ed Allen, Ron Gant, and David Lillard, Sr.  Fayette County Trustee Barbara Parker and Fayette County Register of Deeds Eddie Pattat have endorsed Leatherwood as has State Representative and Shelby County Board of Education Member Ron Lollar.
Other officials endorsing Leatherwood are Anne Edmiston, a Shelby County Board of Education Member, Ernest Chism, also a member of the Shelby County Board of Education and a Germantown Alderman. The endorsements from Shelby County include William R. “Bill” Key, Criminal Court Clerk, Jimmy Moore, Circuit Court Clerk, Debbie Stamson, County Clerk, Steve Stamson, Juvenile Court Clerk, Chris Thomas, Probate Court Clerk, and Chris Turner, General Sessions Court Clerk.
Also endorsing Leatherwood are Arlington Vice Mayor Harry McKee and Arlington Aldermen Glen Bascom, Hugh Lamar, Gerald McGee, and Brian Thompson.
In his current position as Register of Deeds for Shelby County, Leatherwood has returned money to the Shelby County budget every year, while serving as a leader in making information available at no cost to the public.  He began his career in elective politics in 1992 when he defeated incumbent State Senator Leonard Dunavant, an advocate for a state income tax, in the Republican primary.  Leatherwood went on to win in November and played a leading role in opposing a state income tax.