Key focus areas for our campaign
MY VISION FOR A BETTER MEMPHIS
I’m not running to maintain the Memphis we have. I’m running to help build the Memphis we deserve.
My vision is about creating a city where people have the opportunity to grow, succeed, build wealth, raise their families, and be proud to call Memphis home.
Here are the key areas I’m fighting for:
🏠 AFFORDABLE LIVING
Working families, young adults, and seniors deserve a Memphis where they can afford to live, rent, and eventually own a home.
🚀 MEMPHIS 2.0 — THE NEXT GENERATION
We need to prepare Memphis for the future by embracing innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and opportunities for the next generation.
💰 FINANCIAL FREEDOM
We should give residents access to resources that help them understand credit, banking, budgeting, investing, homeownership, and building generational wealth.
🧑🏾💻 DIGITAL MEMPHIS
Technology is changing the world. Memphis needs to make sure our residents have access to technology, digital skills, high-speed internet, and the careers of tomorrow.
🏡 HOMEOWNERSHIP & GENERATIONAL WEALTH
We need stronger pathways for first-time homebuyers and more opportunities for Memphis families to build something they can pass down to the next generation.
🎶 CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & TOURISM
Memphis is the birthplace of legends. Our music, food, culture, sports, and creativity should be major economic engines that create opportunities for local artists, businesses, and communities.
🧠 MENTAL WELLNESS & COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Our communities need access to resources and support systems that help people through difficult times and strengthen families and neighborhoods.
🗣️ THE PEOPLE’S VOICE
Residents should not have to feel ignored by City Hall. I want to create stronger ways for Memphis citizens—especially our youth—to have a voice in the decisions that affect their lives.
👊🏾 MEMPHIS FIRST
Memphis residents, Memphis businesses, Memphis workers, and Memphis neighborhoods should be at the center of our city’s future.
This campaign isn’t about politics as usual.
It’s about moving Memphis forward.
We have the talent.
We have the culture.
We have the people.
We have the potential.
Now we need the leadership and the vision to bring it all together.
Let’s level up Memphis.
SAFETY. OPPORTUNITY. PROGRESS.
— Ja’Marez Benson
Safer neighborhoods
SAFER NEIGHBORHOODS. STRONGER MEMPHIS.
Every Memphian deserves to feel safe walking through their neighborhood, raising their children, going to work, and coming home at night.
Public safety cannot just be a campaign promise. It has to be a priority.
For too long, residents have been asking for safer streets, stronger community policing, better lighting, cleaner neighborhoods, and a real response to the issues affecting our communities.
As your City Councilman, I will fight for:
• Safer streets and neighborhoods
• Stronger relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve
• Better lighting and infrastructure in areas that need it most
• More resources for youth programs and positive activities
• Accountability when public safety systems fail our residents
• Neighborhood revitalization that reduces blight and creates safer communities
• A city government that listens when residents say, “We don’t feel safe.”
We should not have to accept crime, abandoned properties, or unsafe streets as simply “the way things are.”
Our neighborhoods deserve better. Our families deserve better. Memphis deserves better.
I’m ready to fight for a Memphis where safety isn’t a privilege—it’s a standard.
Let’s level up Memphis.
Safer neighborhoods. Stronger communities. A better Memphis
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERY MEMPHIAN
Memphis deserves an economy where opportunity isn’t limited by your ZIP code.
I believe every young person should have access to a good-paying job, career training, apprenticeships, and the resources needed to build a successful future right here in Memphis. Our working families deserve opportunities to earn more, our small businesses deserve support, and entrepreneurs with big ideas deserve a city that helps them turn those ideas into reality.
We cannot keep telling people to leave Memphis to find opportunity. We need to build an economy that gives people a reason to stay.
As your City Councilman, I will fight to:
• Expand workforce development and career opportunities for young adults
• Support local and minority-owned small businesses
• Encourage businesses to invest and create jobs in Memphis communities
• Connect residents with skilled-trade, technology, and apprenticeship opportunities
• Make it easier for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses
• Advocate for economic development that benefits everyday Memphians—not just corporations
Memphis has talent. Memphis has entrepreneurs. Memphis has hardworking people. What we need is opportunity.
It’s time to create a Memphis where you can grow, work, build, and succeed without having to leave home to do it.
Let’s level up Memphis.
Opportunity. Growth. Prosperity.
— Ja’Marez Benson
Candidate for Memphis City Council
Youth Empowerment
OUR YOUTH DESERVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE.
I’m running because I believe in the next generation of Memphis.
Too often, young people are told to wait their turn. I believe our turn is now.
Our city is filled with young people who are creative, intelligent, ambitious, and ready to make a difference. But potential means nothing if we don’t give our youth the opportunities and support they need to succeed.
We need to create more pathways to careers, entrepreneurship, leadership, education, skilled trades, and community involvement. We need to give young people something to believe in and something worth building toward.
And most importantly, we need to listen to them.
Young people should not only be talked about when elections come around. They should have a voice in the decisions that shape their schools, neighborhoods, careers, and future.
I want Memphis to be a city where a young person can say:
“I can make it here.”
Because I believe they can.
Our youth aren’t a problem to solve.
They’re an investment to make.
Let’s give them the tools.
Let’s open the doors.
Let’s give them a seat at the table.
Let’s level up Memphis — together.
— Ja’Marez Benson
Infrastructure & renewal
Modernizing city services, restoring public parks, and upgrading road and transit networks across every ward.
Community Supporter, Memphis Resident
Ready to level up Memphis?
“Ja’Marez Benson brings the energy, vision, and dedication our city desperately needs right now. He truly listens to our communities.”
Your support makes the difference in 2027. Join our grass-roots movement today by volunteering, hosting a porch party, or donating.
Frequently asked questions
Learn more about Ja’Marez Benson’s qualifications, election dates, and how you can register to vote in the upcoming municipal election.
Connect with the campaign
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Campaign office hours
Monday – Saturday: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday: Closed
Call or text
(901-494-5122)
(901-238-6636)
Benson4CityCouncil@gmail.com