John DeBerry, a longtime Democratic state representative in Tennessee who served Memphis’ House District 90 for about 26 years, plans to enter the race for Shelby County mayor as a Republican, according to reports.
ABC 24 Memphis reported Tuesday that DeBerry plans to announce his mayoral bid on Thursday afternoon outside of the Shelby County Election Commission, setting himself up to be the first Republican to declare themselves a candidate in the 2026 mayoral race.
DeBerry joins already-declared candidates Shelby County Commissioner Mickell Lowery, City Councilman JB Smiley Jr., Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn, Shelby County Chief Administrative Officer Harold Collins, Shelby County Property Tax Assessor Melvin Burgess, former Memphis-Shelby County Schools Superintendent Marie Feagins, and political newcomer Rusty Qualls in the mayoral field.
Throughout his political career, DeBerry often broke with the Democratic party on high-profile issues like school vouchers and pro-life legislation, voting with Republicans on those measures.
In 2020, the Tennessee Democratic Party’s state executive committee voted 41-18 to remove DeBerry from the Democratic primary ballot for the 2020 election, saying his positions didn’t align with the party’s principles.
The removal meant he could no longer run as a Democrat even though he had qualified for the ballot.
Because of that action, DeBerry ran in the November 2020 general election as an independent but was overwhelmingly defeated by Democrat Torrey Harris, who went on to become the state representative for the district.
After losing the election, Governor Bill Lee appointed DeBerry to a senior advisory role in his administration beginning in December 2020.
Lee praised DeBerry at the time, calling him “a respected leader and man of faith who has served our state with integrity for decades as both a legislator and civil rights champion.”
Primary elections in Shelby County will be held on Tuesday, May 5.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “John DeBerry” is by Tennessee Governor’s Office and “Shelby County” by Shelby County.
