Jackson, Miss., residents will soon go to the polls to replace a city councilwoman who left office following a criminal indictment earlier this month. A special election for the Ward 2 seat is set for Oct. 1.
The Jackson City Council held a special meeting at City Hall on Aug. 19 to schedule the election to fill the seat that has been vacant since former Ward 2 City Councilwoman Angelique Lee resigned abruptly and pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge on Aug. 14.
“My intent today is to reassure the people of the City of Jackson that the urgent legislative affairs of the City will continue uninterrupted,” Council President Virgi Lindsay said during a press conference on the morning of Lee’s resignation.
Residents interested in running for the Ward 2 city council seat can pick up the registration packet from the Municipal Clerk’s office at City Hall. Candidates have until 5 p.m. on Sept. 11 to return the packet, City of Jackson Municipal Clerk Angela Harris told the Council.
To qualify, a candidate must have been a resident of Ward 2 for at least two years and must submit a petition with at least 50 signatures of verifiable registered voters to the municipal clerk’s office, Harris said.
The election commission will verify that the signatures are those of registered voters.
“The qualifying period ends 20 days before the special election,” Harris said. “The sooner they can get their petitions in—their intent to qualify—so that I can get it to the election commission to start vetting those signatures, it’ll make the process go smoother.”
If no candidate gets over 50% of the vote, the City will hold a runoff election on Oct. 22.
State law required the Council to hold the election within 30 to 45 days after the meeting following Lee’s resignation. The former councilwoman, who first took office after winning a special election for Ward 2 after Melvin Priester resigned in 2020, had not yet completed her first full term when she stepped down.
“It has been my tremendous honor to serve the constituents of Ward 2 and the people of the City of Jackson as a whole,” Lee said in the letter to her colleagues hours before pleading guilty on the bribery charge.
An Aug. 7 federal indictment unsealed the same day that Lee resigned alleged that in February and March of this year, she conspired to accept thousands of dollars in bribes from two undercover FBI agents posing as real-estate developers interested in setting up property in Downtown Jackson.
In exchange for the bribes, the indictment states, Lee agreed to use her power as a member of the City Council to vote in favor of the development. The FBI raided her home in May on the same day the bureau raided Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens’ offices. Federal investigators have not made any public allegations against Owens nor charged him with any crimes, and the reason for the raids on his office remains unclear.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Judge Daniel P. Jordan III set Lee’s sentencing date for Nov. 13 at 10 a.m. She could face up to five years in prison.
