OK, Maybe the Whole "Wave Election" Thing is Real

This past Thursday, Democratic Party candidates clubbed their Republican counterparts like a baby seal in Shelby County: (The county that Memphis is in.)

Shelby County Democrats trounced Republicans last night.

Of the 26 county offices up for grabs, Democrats won all but five — and those were previously Republican commission seats. Before the election, Republicans held nine of the 10 most high-profile county offices, including mayor and sheriff. Now, they hold zero.

How to describe the devastation of last night's win for Republicans? It was a rout. A sweep. A wave that overwhelmed Republicans who had largely controlled the county — not counting the commission, which had a scant Democratic majority — since 2008.

Of course, all eyes were on the mayor's race, where Democrat Lee Harris easily won by more than 10 percentage points:

Of particular note is that Harris won and he campaigned heavily on expanding mass transit, which is significant, since Tennessee's other large city, Nashville, had its mass transit plans shot down though the efforts of the Koch brothers.

Not a result that I would have expected.