Aftermath of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 : racial voting patterns in Memphis mayoral elections, 1967-1991.

On October 4, 1991, voters in Memphis, Tennessee elected their first Black mayor. Dr. Willie W. Herenton became the sixth Black mayor of a major American city. He defeated the incumbent Richard C. (Dick) Hackett by 172 votes, the narrowest margin of victory in the city's history.

The Herenton victory is unusually significant. Until this point, Memphis, a city with 610,000 residents and an approximately 55 percent Black population, was one of only three cities with the 15 largest Black populations that had not elected a Black mayor. In the past, the major barriers to the election of a Black mayor in Memphis included the inability or refusal of Black leaders to support one Black candidate, the lack of White crossover votes for Black candidates, the low Black voter registration and turnout rates. Blacks have consistently cast crossover votes in sizable blocs to elect White candidates. However, before 1991, they failed to mobilize behind one single Black candidate for mayor. In most past Memphis mayoral elections, the Black vote became fragmented and split because of the number of Black candidates seeking the office. One the other hand. Whites voting as a bloc consistently elected their preferred candidates. This dissertation examined the factors that led to a Herenton win, but thwarted previous campaigns and found that a strong Black voting bloc and a large Black voter turnout rate were the major determinants of victory for Dr. Willie W. Herenton.