JACKSON, Miss.—John Horhn, a longtime Mississippi senator, is the Democratic nominee to be the next mayor of Jackson. Horhn defeated the incumbent, Chokwe A. Lumumba, in a landslide victory on Tuesday night following a primary runoff.
As of 9:20 p.m., with 79 of 80 precincts reporting, Horhn had 17,729 votes to Lumumba’s 5,940—a lead of about 75% to 25%. In addition to one outstanding precinct, election workers still must count absentee votes, though there are not enough votes remaining to change the outcome.
Federal bribery charges against Lumumba left an indelible stain on his campaign for reelection, some voters told the Mississippi Free Press. The incumbent has maintained that he is innocent of the charges and is “not guilty of any wrongdoing.”
Horhn first ran for the seat in 2009. At the time, he said that while some might characterize his desire to run for mayor and leave the Senate as “a demotion in some ways,” he saw it as a sign of his love of the city of Jackson.
During his three decades in the Legislature, Horhn championed legislation to establish the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson and spoke out against Republican-led attempts to take over control of the Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport.
During his tenure as mayor, Lumumba saw successes such as establishing the City of Jackson’s Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery to support community-based crime prevention efforts. He coordinated with former Republican Gov. Phil Bryant to stave off a state takeover of the Jackson Public School District and helped to secure millions of dollars in federal funding to repair the City’s fledgling water infrastructure.
He remained resolute in opposing state-led attempts to take control of the City’s assets like Smith Wills Stadium, the airport and the City’s water and sewer systems. But many voters expressed frustration with crumbling roadways, blight and abandoned properties in their neighborhoods, crime, the City’s ongoing challenges with maintaining a public works director, and a lack of new housing development.
As the Democratic nominee, Horhn will face off against the eventual Republican nominee during the June 3 general election, along with independent candidates Rodney DePriest, Kim Wade and Zach Servis.
In the Republican primary, Kenny Gee led Wilfred Beal by a vote of 97 to 56 with 79 of 80 precincts in, or about 53% to 47%.
No Republican has won an election for mayor in Jackson since Allen C. Thompson, who led the capital city from 1948 to 1969; Democrats have led the city ever since.
Democratic voters also nominated candidates for two city council seats in Tuesday’s runoffs. In Ward 6, Lashia Brown-Thomas led Emon D. Thompson Sr. by about 53% to 47% with 11 of 12 precincts in. In Ward 7, Kevin Parkinson led Quint Withers by about 53% to 47% with 15 of 15 precincts reporting.
See the full results here.
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