Members of the Tennessee Democratic Party’s executive committee on Saturday elected Hendrell Remus as the new party chair.
Remus, an assistant emergency operations officer at Tennessee State University, is said to be the first Black leader of the state party organization. He has previously run unsuccessfully for local and state offices in Memphis. Remus is vice chair of the Tennessee Young Democrats, and in that role has served as an ex-officio member of the TNDP Executive Committee.
Remus takes over the party from three-term chair Mary Mancini at a low point for Tennessee Democrats, who have not won a statewide election since 2006, and whose House and Senate caucuses have dwindled to super-minorities.
The House and Senate caucuses supported Wade Munday for the chairmanship. Munday, a former state Senate candidate and TNDP staffer, finished second in the voting, and it’s not the first time the state’s Democratic lawmakers have been at odds with the executive committee. Two years ago, Democrats in the House and Senate urged the committee to replace Mancini, but they decided to retain her.
Two other candidates — Kate Craig and Robin Kimbrough Hayes — dropped out after the first round and endorsed Remus, who trailed Munday in the first tally.
“The road ahead will be tough and full of unknown obstacles,” Remus told the executive committee after his election. “I’m ready to get to work.”
