The Honorable Carol J. Chumney Recently Featured on Close Up Radio

MEMPHIS, TN, UNITED STATES, February 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Carol Chumney is a name some might recognize. That is because she continues to lead a dynamic career in Tennessee legal and political arenas. Ms. Chumney served as an attorney, a councilwoman and a member of the state legislature, where she sponsored many enlightened policies. She strived valiantly to break the glass ceiling and be elected the first woman Mayor of Memphis in 2007. To date, Memphis has never elected a female mayor and Chumney’s second place finish (within 7 points of winning), is the closest a woman has even come.

Nowadays she is a Circuit Court Judge and also a respected author (simultaneously caring for her aging parents). Her book The Arena, One Woman’s Story tackles the glass ceiling subject with finesse. Ms. Chumney chronicles her personal story and discusses the need for integrity in politics, and greater inclusion of women in higher public office and other key areas of policymaking.

Ms. Chumney’s book discusses Memphis politics and points out the irony that back when the suffragettes fought, Tennessee was the key 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment granting women their right to vote (which passed by one vote in its state house). In fact, one of many public speaking appearances Carol Chumney has made over the years was on the Tennessee state house floor at the 75th Anniversary of that 1920 legal stride.

In her book, which she will relate on the podcast, she mentions how slow real change is coming, even 100 years later. She notes that there has finally been a female VP of the USA, and a female U.S. senator from Tennessee but still no female U.S. President or Tennessee Governor, and women are still not proportionally represented in the U.S. congress, state legislatures, statewide executive, and mayor positions. The book is a memoir, all the more interesting because of the obstacles women face daily, both in her field of politics and in workplaces everywhere. The book has won several awards including one from National Federation of Press Women.

Ms. Chumney graduated law school in 1986 and began her career as judicial law clerk on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. She became a partner in a major Memphis law firm and then started her own law firm. In 2022, she then was elected to become a full-time member of the judiciary. Throughout the years she has helped to pass state laws related to safety in child care settings, sexual harassment, health care, education, the environment, domestic violence, and more. She has fought for both men and women and worked for election reforms and to ensure the integrity of the voting processes (even with a lawsuit for a nonprofit that was decided by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020). As a judge she hears civil cases such as health care liability, personal injury, divorce and child custody, orders of protection, and breach of contract, including both jury and bench trials.

Chumney says, “The glass ceiling is the invisible barrier that keeps women from attaining higher positions despite their qualifications or achievements.” Her story is an inside look at local and state politics that exposes this barrier. As she says, “you first have to see it to defeat it.” She adds, “In the end, it is merely a question of wanting basic respect.

The truth is that it is not so much about electing women but about ceasing not to elect women who are more qualified and better able to do what is needed. It’s about giving women a fair shake.”

Carol J. Chumney was invited to the podcast as part of their Empowering Women series. From her legislative endeavors to her writing, to her work as an attorney and judge, she has done much to further the status of women. She won numerous awards during her thirteen years as a state legislator, including passing landmark childcare reform as reported in TIME magazine and the New York Times. She also served four years as a Memphis city councilwoman, during which she stood up to officials and their spending abuse. She is now a nonpartisan judge and continues to make a difference for all citizens.

Ms. Chumney has quite a story to tell, and we will do our best to honor her achievement in this upcoming podcast with our own Doug Llewelyn, a court figure in his own right.

Close Up radio recently featured the honorable Carol J. Chumney in an interview with Doug Llewelyn on Monday February 16th at 2pm EST

Listen to the Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-up-radio-spotlights-the-honorable-carol-j-chumney/id1785721253?i=1000750233089
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-close-up-radio-242020413/episode/close-up-radio-spotlights-the-honorable-323397975/
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4ouBjtRgEhPmjC3SqTKPKF

For more information about Carol Chumney, her life, and her book please visit the website https://carolchumney.com/

Lou Ceparano
Close Up Television & Radio
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