Paul Young will be the next mayor of Memphis; win marks generational leadership change

Music blasted througth Minglewood Hall as supporters of Paul Young held their phones, flashlights lit, in the air.

“This is not about Paul Young. This is about the future of our city, the city we love, the city people forgot about, the one they wanted to write off,” Young said as he greeted the crowd. “We’re not having it y’all. We’re ready to take us into a new future. … it’s time for us to write the next pages of Memphis history."

Young, the current head of the Downtown Memphis Commission, will be the next mayor of Memphis.

He campaigned on a platform of bringing jobs and a strong economy to Memphis, building off his time as head of the DMC and director of the city’s division of housing and community development.

In a speech to a room packed with supporters, the mayor-elect said his victory was about all of Memphis.

Young, 43, has never held elected office but is intimately familiar with the workings of Memphis government. His campaign quickly drew support from political moderates, with his campaign raising more money than any other contender for mayor.

Election results: Check out who the vote totals here

Prior to holding his role with the Downtown Memphis Commission, he led the city’s Division of Housing and Community Development.

With all 98 precincts reporting their unofficial vote totals late Thursday night, Young had 27.62% of the vote, 24,408 votes total. That was more than 4,500 more votes than his closest competitor, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner. There is no runoff in the Memphis mayoral race and a candidate only needs a plurality of the vote to win.

The top of a crowded field

Young came out on top of a packed field with 17 candidates on the ballot. He was widely considered one of four frontrunners, including former Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner, former Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton and Bonner.

At Young’s watch party at Minglewood Hall Thursday, the crowd grew excited shortly before 8 p.m. as early voting totals projected on a large screen, showing Young in the lead, followed by Bonner.

“I’ve been knowing Paul since he was a little boy,” said Delois Williamson, a Young supporter at the party. “He’s always had that leadership ability. He was born for this.”

As the crowd grew to around 300, campaign workers said Young was gathered in a separate room watching voting totals come in. Local officials and other influential Memphians filed into the back room and then back out into the crowd.

As Bonner conceded the race across town, Young’s mother, Pastor Dianne Young embraced supporters of her son at Minglewood Hall.

“Look at what God has done,” she said. “This is surreal, because this is a dream I had 20 years ago, and I told him when he was an engineering student. He said, ‘Mama, I’m not going into politics.’ And look where he is now.”

Shortly after Bonner conceded, Herenton and Turner conceded, too.

As it happened: 2023 election updates: Paul Young is Memphis' next mayor with 28% of the vote

"This has been an amazing run," Bonner said. "It’s been difficult being sheriff and trying to run for mayor as well. But I enjoyed every minute of it, and again, I want to thank each and every one of you, we couldn’t have been in this race without you, and we look forward to moving Memphis forward, and again, congratulations to Mr. Young."

Herenton told his supporters that he had high expectations for turnout at predominantly Black precincts that didn't pan out and that he plans to become an author.

Turner also congratulated Young, asking his crowd to give the new mayor-elect "a hand." He said he plans to return to practicing law.

'He looked like he could run the city'

Back at Young's watch party, his family and supporters spoke of his election as the fulfillment of God's plan for Young.

Four years ago, supporter Patricia Rogers prophesied to Young that he would become mayor, she said. She told him the prophecy in his office at the City of Memphis Division of Housing & Community Development.

“I was in his office for a meeting about a project with Bishop David Hall and I just saw his countenance. He looked like a very diplomatic young man, and I’ve known him for quite some time, and I could just see in his countenance he looked like he could run the city,” Rogers said. “I told him ‘You’re going to be the mayor one day.’ He just laughed and said, ‘We’ll see.’”

While Turner received most endorsements from area Democrats, Young was endorsed by the Shelby County Young Democrats, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood and local rapper NLE Choppa. Other Young endorsements included former Grizzlies Player Elliott Perry, director Craig Brewer and GenNext PAC. His campaign seized on the momentum of younger voters, targeting young families and professionals.

The new mayor of Memphis, a city of more than 630,000 people, will be sworn in on Jan. 1.

A native Memphian and the father of two children, Young comes from a family deeply ingrained in the city. His parents, Bishop William and Pastor Dianne Young, were well-known for their ministries in Memphis.

In his victory remarks, Young described remarks his father had made before he died.

"It's not about you, it's about what God has put in you for the rest of our city," Young quoted his father as telling him.

Now, Young said he wants to see the city he loves "go through a transformation" that leads to hopefulness, prosperity and healing.

"I know the heaviness we’re feeling right now, I hear the cries of the mothers, the cousins, the brothers, far too many people dying, kids that are starving, poverty that we’ve been talking about for the last 60-70 years, our community needs help, our community needs leadership and it’s time for that next generation to take us into a new wave," Young said. “We want a future that we’ve never seen y’all, and that’s what we’re going to do together.”

Reporters John Klyce, Brooke Muckerman and Lucas Finton contributed to this story.

Katherine Burgess covers Memphis City Government and religion. She can be reached at katherine.burgess@commercialappeal.com or followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kathsburgess.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Paul Young wins the 2023 Memphis mayoral race