----Dave Meltzer reported this in the 8.10.09 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Not sure what week this appeared in the Memphis Flyer. I don't think Lawler has a chance, if he doesn't "try" to run as a politician.
There was an interesting article in the Memphis Flyer on Lawler running for mayor. He said former mayor Wyeth Chandler told him in 1999 when he ran the first time, “I’m going to tell you your problem. Black people love you. They will spend their last dollar to see you. But Jerry, they will not vote for you. Memphis will never have another white mayor.” Lawler said he didn’t believe him, campaigned hard in black sections of the city. He noted in one section he was thrilled as he walked around. “I was like a pied piper,” with people gravitating toward him. Then he noted he got all of eight votes in the entire precinct. The special election was announced for 10/27. Lawler said education is the city’s No. 1 problem, and he also feels Memphis is the most racially divided city in the country and he’d like to bridge that gap. Lawler as a pro wrestler in the 70s and 80s was so popular among African-Americans that there was a business term in the city, “Lawler’s cousins,” for the huge African-American fan base he drew. But, as predicted, they did not support him running for mayor. And this is long after his wrestling heyday in the city. He said he was going to run as an anti-politician. No fund-raisers, no paid advertising, no professional campaign staffers and not even yard signs. He said he would push his campaign on Twitter, have volunteers who will hold up hand-made signs at intersections, and tell people to put yellow ribbons all over the city to indicate their support for him, and that they no longer intend to be held hostage by the politicians. Lawler knows that to make a great babyface, you have to create a group of heels. He also said he’d like to have a revolving mayor’s office, taking a Winnebago and going into different parts of the city for a week or two at a time, and allowing people to just walk up and talk with him about their problems.
