Incumbent Democratic Mayor A C Wharton ran for re-election to a second full term in office.

Due to the 1991 ruling of U.S. District Judge Jerome Turner, there is no runoff allowed in citywide elections.

As mayor, Wharton oversaw the city's response to the 2009 recession and subsequent budget cuts.

Strickland painted himself as a "law and order" candidate and promised to crack down on violent crime in the city, while Harold Collins called for a data-based approach to crime and for increased job training for Memphis residents.

[17][18] On Election Day, Strickland defeated Wharton by nearly twenty percentage points, winning a plurality of the vote.