Memphis voters face blank ballot for state House seat; write-in candidates are only options

Incumbent misses qualifying by 1 signature, later dies

Voters in Memphis will receive a ballot with no candidate names listed for Tennessee's 93rd State House District.

Democratic incumbent Rep. G.A. Hardaway collected 47 signatures to qualify for the ballot, exceeding the requirement of 25 signatures from registered voters in his district.

However, only 24 signatures were determined to be valid, leaving him one signature short of qualifying.

The qualifying deadline was March 10, with the withdrawal deadline on March 17.

Hardaway could have pursued a write-in candidacy, but the lawmaker died April 24 after a brief illness.

His son, T.J. Hardaway, was appointed to the seat by the Shelby County Commission. Because the deadline to qualify for the August 6 primary had passed, he initially considered a write-in candidacy. By September, however, he had decided to pursue law school instead.

No Republican candidate qualified for the seat.

T.J. Hardaway endorsed Kyler Gilkey as a write-in candidate, but Gilkey was later ruled ineligible to have his write-in votes counted because he had already lost a Democratic primary for another state House seat.

Five other write-in candidates qualified for the November 3 election.

As a result, voters in the 93rd District will see no candidate names printed on their ballots and must write in the name of a qualified candidate to cast a vote in this race.

The district is entirely within Shelby County.

The circumstances illustrate how candidate qualification requirements, filing deadlines, and write-in rules can affect the choices presented to voters on Election Day.