Name That Party: Memphis Edition

The Associated Press manages to run a story 27 paragraphs long about the apparently corrupt Mayor of Memphis, Willie Herenton, and mysteriously fails to identify his party affiliation.

Herenton, 68, is fending off federal prosecutors, who have impaneled a grand jury that is scrutinizing how city contracts are awarded and whether Herenton used his office to benefit financially through a real estate company he owns.

Grand juries work in secret, but the investigation appears to involve the mayor's dealings with Elvin W. Moon, a friend and businessman whose civil engineering firm has gotten road-design contracts with the city worth more than $700,000 over the past several years.

Based on who has been called to testify, questions by the 23-member panel also seem to be focusing on a plan to move a downtown Greyhound bus station to city-owned land near Memphis International Airport.

Records uncovered by The Commercial Appeal newspaper show Herenton acquired rights in 2004 to buy the land Greyhound would vacate and made more than $90,000 when the option was sold in 2006 with Moon's help.

Herenton won't talk about whether there even is an investigation but has sought to reassure his constituents by playing up his administration's honesty. He has asked top aides to swear in writing they haven't been improperly pressured in awarding city contracts.

In a letter published in The Commercial Appeal, Herenton said he hasn't let his private business conflict with his duties as mayor.

Searching around, it seems nobody wants to identify his party.

Finally, we have an identity:

Herenton, Willie W. — of Memphis, Shelby County, Tenn. Democrat. Mayor of Memphis, Tenn., 1992-; Presidential Elector for Tennessee, 1992; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Tennessee, 2000. Black. Still living as of 2003.

Of course if Herenton were a Republican we wouldn't have to guess.