The news: Bartlett will have one new face on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. Cynthia “Cindy” Cromwell defeated incumbent Alderman Robert Griffin for Position 2 in Tuesday’s Nov. 3 election, according to unofficial results from the Shelby County Election Commission. The other two incumbents on the ballot both won.

The aldermen races (all 10 Bartlett precincts reporting):

  • Position 2: Cromwell 8,322 votes (48.54%), Griffin 7,457 (43.50%), Tim Schlum 1,152 (6.72%), write-ins 213. That’s a margin of 865 votes.
  • Position 1: Alderman Harold Brad King 11,466 (63.33%), Jerry L. Jenkins 6,503 (35.92%), write-ins 136.
  • Position 3: Alderman David Reaves 10,598 (58.77%), Tamisha P. DuBose 7,321 (40.60%), write-ins 113.

The unopposed races:

  • Mayor: David Parsons, the only name on the ballot, got 16,662 votes (95.40%), with 804 write-in votes. The Commercial Appeal reports this will be Parsons’ second term; he was first elected in November 2022.
  • School Board, Position 2: Erin Elliott Berry, 14,664 votes (95.91%).
  • School Board, Position 4: Bryan Woodruff, 14,619 votes (96.11%).

Berry and Woodruff already serve on the Bartlett Board of Education, which will pick the district’s next superintendent after Dr. David Stephens retires June 30, 2027.

Why it matters: Griffin was one of two aldermen who voted for the Union Depot tax increment financing request in August 2025, which failed 3-2, according to the Commercial Appeal and the Daily News. Cromwell will take over his Position 2 seat as site work gets going on that project.

Not final yet: These numbers are unofficial. The Election Commission’s results page shows election day, early voting and absentee ballots fully counted, but provisional ballots had not been reported as of its last update (11:59 p.m. Tuesday). Results become official once the Election Commission certifies them.

Sources: Shelby County Election Commission unofficial results, Nov. 3, 2026 (last updated 11:59 p.m. Nov. 3); Commercial Appeal; Daily Memphian. Union Depot TIF vote per the Commercial Appeal and Daily News coverage cited in our Union Depot story.

Photo: Funknendai, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)