State Rep. Justin Pearson Sues City Council Over Meeting Ban

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

From the Principal Toyota Studios, it's Morning in Memphis with Todd Starnes.

Todd Starnes (0:07)

Wow, happy Friday, everybody. And you might want to batten down the hatches. Geeza, Lou, it is a little windy across the Mid-South. And there's a reason why, the good news, the good news, ladies and gentlemen, is that fall is officially here. And tonight, temperature is going to be down in the 40s. So if you're heading out to any high school football game tonight, might want to pack a jacket. It's going to get a little bit cool. And we've got chamber of commerce weather. As far as the eye can see, highs in the low 70s, lows in the nighttime, in the 40s. It is great. It is great to be in the Mid-South this time of year. Hope you guys are doing great. We've got a lot going on. Of course, a good many folks on fall break across the Mid-South, and a good many people down in New Orleans. For the big game tonight, the Memphis Tigers taking on Tulane, and then the following Saturday, ESPN Sports Center is going to be in town. So that's going to be a lot of fun. Everybody be on your best behavior. No drive-bys that day, at least not on national television.

So a lot happening here. By the way, I want to give a huge shout out to our friends over at Theater Memphis. Last night, they had a special showing of the new musical Million Dollar Quartet. It opens up tonight officially, but man, did they have a spread last night. Huge buffet, and got to see our good friend, Becky Dinschel was there with her Elvis Presley chocolates. And of course, they had peanut butter and banana sandwiches on the appetizer list. So a lot of fun. You're going to love this musical, and want you to get out there, and be sure to support our local artists here in the Mid-South. All right, we've got a lot going on today. And first, I want to share the very latest numbers we've got on early voting. Shelby County Election Commission will be releasing day two numbers, and hopefully later on, usually around midday, we get those numbers. But what we can tell you is that over 11,000 people turned out to vote on the first day of early voting. Those are massive numbers.

We're talking over, wow, twice as many as came out in 2022, when about 6,000 people came out to vote. So well done, everybody, getting out there and getting out the vote. Statewide, almost 100,000 people voted on the first day of early voting. And there's already some speculation that we could be watching presidential election-style numbers when it comes time for election day. So the question is, what does all of that mean? Is that good news for the Democrats? Is it good news for the Republicans? Because right now, there is a lot of angst on the Republican side of the aisle. And even here in Tennessee, there is growing concern about the campaign of David Hatley, Hatley putting even more of his own personal money into his campaign, and the Blackburn campaign launching another series of attack ads, and also sending information to local media about Hatley's past, things he did back in the 1990s, which were absolutely horrible, and many of them were criminal. And the question is, should Hatley be held accountable for something he did, a crime he paid for back in the 1990s, does that impact his ability to be the next governor of the state of Tennessee? There is enough concern that even the Democrats are getting involved now in this. I think everybody is really wary of David Hatley, and whether or not the disenfranchised Republican voters are going to rally around Senator Blackburn, or are they throwing their hands up in the air, they're disgusted with the way things have been going, and they're going to give David Hatley a chance. Here's the problem. I don't know if there's any chance, any pathway to victory for David Hatley, other than to steal enough votes away from Marsha Blackburn, where Jerry Green is able to walk into the governor's mansion. So, curious to hear your take on that. If you have been out voting, if you voted early, give us a call. Let us know how things were going. I'm curious to know what it was like where you vote. I can tell you, I voted in Germantown, and took about, I don't know, 30, 35 minutes to vote. The line moved along pretty quickly, and everybody very nice, very kind, and everybody was in a good mood. But people were there, and they were there to vote. So anyway, our telephone number, 901-260-5926.