Indicted senator’s sister tries run at legislature

For more than 30 years, Fords have been elected to the Legislature and to numerous local offices, and the large family holds a unique place in the political history of Tennessee’s largest city.

Ophelia Ford’s nephew, Harold Ford Jr., is a congressman from Memphis and a U.S. Senate candidate. His father, Harold Ford Sr., was Tennessee’s first black member of Congress.

Now, Ophelia Ford is the front-runner in an election Thursday to replace her brother John, who resigned from the Senate in May following a federal indictment on extortion and bribery charges.

Four other current or former Tennessee lawmakers, two confessed “bag men” and the chairman of the Shelby County commission also were charged in the ongoing investigation.

But John Ford’s indictment hasn’t destroyed the family’s influence in Memphis, where they have owned a funeral home since the 1930s and where they are seen as advocates for the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

“People don’t look at us as just politicians,” Ophelia Ford said. “We provide services to the community. We’re well known. We can get things done, and we’re smart.”

The Fords were a driving force in the growth of black political power in Memphis in the 1970s, and though their political influence has weakened in recent years, their standing as community leaders remains strong.

“I can hardly go anywhere that people don’t recognize who I am,” Ford said.

Her main problem now is getting voters to remember that there’s an election, since the Senate race is the only one on the ballot. “It’s all about getting out the vote,” she said.

Ford, 55, is one of 12 siblings, most of whom have run for public office or worked in political campaigns.

Family members often follow each other from one elective office to another. After 22 years in the U.S. House, Harold Ford Sr. had little trouble turning over the job to his oldest son in 1996. And when Harold Sr. first went to Congress, a brother replaced him in the Tennessee House.

Four brothers followed one another in filling a “Ford seat” on the City Council, and family members also have replaced each other on the Shelby County Commission. For five years in the 1970s, John Ford was on the City Council while also in the Senate. He was clerk of General Sessions Court in Memphis for one term while a senator.

The Fords also have helped non-family members win public office and at times have put out a list of favored candidates for local elections called the “Ford ballot.”

Ophelia Ford is the first woman in the family to seek office, and she made her initial appearance as a candidate three years ago running against brother Joe Ford for a seat on the county commission. She lost.

Joe Ford, a former city councilman, moved to the county board after an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Mayor Willie Herenton in 1999. Herenton, the city’s first elected black mayor, is now in his fourth term, and his solid victory over Joe Ford was a major blow to the Ford organization.

John Ford spent 31 years in the Senate and was a leader of Memphis’ legislative delegation to Nashville. He supports his sister’s candidacy, but doesn’t think she can replace him in the Senate.

“With all due respect, she can’t match what I have done, nor can anyone else,” he said. “But she’ll do well. It’ll be a learning process.”

Ophelia Ford took a slim victory in a Democratic primary in August over eight other candidates, including three members of the state House. For the general election in the mostly black, heavily Democratic district, she faces face Terry Roland, a white Republican in his first bid for public office.

Roland has the formidable task of outdoing the Fords in getting his supporters to the polls, said Jack Sammons, a city councilman and longtime observer of Memphis politics.

“Certainly the Fords are a colorful family and can be controversial at times, but they tend to focus on their constituents and that has bred a lot of loyalty,” Sammons said.

Kenneth Whalum Sr., a retired preacher and former council member, said the Fords seem to have a natural talent for politics.

“They can connect with everyday people,” Whalum said. “The people see them as the champions of the underdog.”

Like other members of her family, Ophelia Ford has worked part-time or full-time at the N.J. Ford & Sons Funeral Parlor for much of her adult life. She’s a licensed funeral director and since 1995 has run the family company’s burial insurance business. Before that, she worked in marketing and communications for BlueCross and BlueShield.

Divorced, she has one daughter and three grandchildren.

Her brother’s unexpected departure from the Senate caused her to move faster than planned to get in another political race.

“But I know that I’m capable,” she said, “and I’m going to go forth and do it.”