Shelby GOP Disavows Keith Alexander, Assessor Candidate with White Nationalist Ties

The Republican Party of Shelby County is removing Keith Alexander, the assessor candidate with white nationalist ties, from its membership roll an refunding his $25 donation to become a sustaining member, the party chairman said Monday.

And, if Alexander wins Tuesday’s primary election, local GOP Chairman Lee Mills would want Alexander removed and candidate Robert “Chip” Trouy to fill the Republican spot in the August county general election.. Alexander and Trouy are the only Republicans seeking the party’s nod for assessor.

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To keep Alexander off August’s ballot, Trouy would need to challenge the election in writing with the state primary board within five days of the certified results.

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Alexander lost to Democrat Cheyenne Johnson in 2014 for assessor of property. The assessor’s office appraises taxable property and oversees reappraisal of property across Shelby County every four years.

Recent publicity has drawn attention to Alexander’s past comments on The Political Cesspool radio show, and affiliation with the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC). The Southern Poverty Law Center designates the CCC a white nationalist hate group and calls the radio show overtly racist and anti-Semitic.

Alexander recently told The Commercial Appeal he doesn’t consider himself “a right-wing extremist” and that he cut ties with the radio show and the CCC.

In a guest column, Mills said the Republican Party “has always stood on the values of opportunity, personal responsibility, faith and freedom with no room or tolerance for hate or bigotry. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any comments or actions that promote those abhorrent beliefs.”

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