Commission splits vote in accepting Senate election results

Ophelia Ford, a Democrat, defeated Republican Terry Roland in the Sept. 15 special election by 4,333 votes to 4,320 according to results accepted by the Shelby County Election Commission.

Roland is challenging the election results in state court and with the Senate. He also filed a challenge with the election commission, alleging that more than 50 ineligible voters cast ballots.

Greg Duckett, the commission’s chairman, said voting records showed those allegations to be inaccurate.

The three Democrats on the commission voted to accept the election results, while the two Republican members did not.

Duckett, a Democrat, said the certification was believed to be the first by the commission in more than 20 years that failed to draw an unanimous vote.

Chris Devaney, executive director of the Tennessee Republican Party, said Roland’s other challenges are expected to continue.

“This is only part of the process. It doesn’t mean that Terry Roland’s fight is over,” Devaney said from party headquarters in Nashville.

John Ford resigned from the Senate in May following his indictment on federal extortion and bribery charges. He represented Senate District 29 for 31 years, rarely drawing serious opposition for re-election.

He was first elected to the state Senate in 1974, the same year brother Harold Ford Sr. became Tennessee’s first black member of Congress.

Harold Ford Sr. retired in 1996 and was replaced by his oldest son, Harold Jr., who is now a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Roland, who owns a convenience store in small town north of Memphis, is active in the local Republican Party but was in his first race as a candidate.