The Mississippi Free Press sent the following questionnaire to Sen. John Horhn ahead of the April 22, 2025, municipal Democratic primary runoff, in which he is challenging the incumbent, Chokwe A. Lumumba, in hopes of becoming the next mayor of Jackson. We present his responses with no edits.
You’ve spent over 30 years as a Mississippi senator. What can you do in your role as Mayor of Jackson that you couldn’t accomplish as a state senator?
My role in the state senate has been focused on allocating funding and establishing policy for Central Mississippi, which includes Jackson. My role as the mayor will be focused around improving quality of life for Jackson residents through bringing in resources, improving the management of city services and infrastructure, growing our revenue, tracking our performance, and communicating effectively to the public. Our first priority will be restoring trust, accountability, and transparency to the citizens of Jackson, county, and state government.
Many of Jackson’s voters selected other candidates besides you or Mayor Lumumba during the April 1 primary. What do you say to voters who are still undecided?
83% of Jacksonians voted for change and almost 50% voted for our campaign. We believe the people of Jackson are ready for change and a leader who has experience, integrity, and restore trust in our city government.
For the voters who are undecided I ask, “Are you satisfied with the current conditions of the city? If not, what would you like to see done better?” The key indicator of our city’s decline is population loss. Since the current administration took office 8 years ago, we’ve lost roughly 25,000 people or 3,000 people each year. Our administration is ready to reverse that trend to stabilize our communities and economy.
You’ve said that one of your first priorities, if elected, would be to restore trust in Jackson’s government officials. How will you do that?
We will restore trust by listening to the citizens of Jackson. We will be transparent about our challenges and our opportunities. We will start by building a long range comprehensive plan together that brings in every neighborhood across the city while also tending to daily short term problems we are facing. In addition to working with our local neighborhoods to establish trust, we have to work with our county, state, and federal leaders to showcase we are competent enough to accept funding and manage projects.
Some voters say they fear that Jackson’s assets would not be safe under your leadership. Where do you think that fear stems from and how will you convince people that this is a misconception and not accurate?
I have been one of the lead senate members fighting against all state takeover efforts. I introduced amendments to fight the takeover efforts of the airport, fought HB-1020, fought the water and sewer takeover, and I have been visibly against those measures on record. The risk of federal and state takeovers comes from a lack of trust in city government to manage our assets.
There has been mismanagement, incompetence, and constant employee turnover. The people, the federal government, and the state government don’t trust the city to manage any of these systems. We need a strong team of professionals in place to showcase we can be trusted to manage our city-owned assets.
What do you think should be the fate of Jackson’s Zoo? Do you think that it can thrive where it is or do you agree with some in Jackson who say the Zoo should be moved near the children’s museum?
The current condition of the Jackson Zoo is very upsetting, it has historically been one of West Jackson’s largest public assets but is in severe decline. It’s generating around $1,500 per month in revenue or around $20,000 annually, which means it’s losing a lot of money that taxpayers are having to make-up for. There is opportunity to rethink how the zoo functions but we need a lot of community engagement in the West Jackson community to create a better plan for the zoo property.
You supported Mississippi’s 2016 BOTEC report about crime prevention in Jackson. How do you think the City of Jackson can use that data—which outlined early indicators that may make young people susceptible to crime and violence—to prevent crime today?
My wife Gail, who has worked at JPS for many years, believes that many of the school district’s problems exist outside of the classroom. The environment our children are facing each day at home, in the streets, and in their neighborhoods is not an environment that is built for students to succeed. We have to fix quality of life outside the school to increase attendance and performance, including providing better job opportunities, housing, public safety, and infrastructure.
Some Jackson residents say that street repairs funded by the 1% sales tax have not been equitably done across all neighborhoods. If elected, how can you make sure that this is not the case?
The City of Jackson must leverage the 1% sales tax commission and lead the group to fund projects equitably throughout the city, particularly in West and South Jackson. This current administration is not engaged enough with the commission, nor do they have a good relationship.
The Mississippi Free Press also sent a questionnaire to Mayor Lumumba. You can read his answers here.
Voting in the Runoff
The municipal primary runoffs in Jackson and other Mississippi towns and cities is on April 22, with the general election to follow on June 3. The last day to vote in-person absentee in Mississippi’s municipal primary runoff elections is Saturday, April 19. Municipal clerk offices in towns and cities the state will be open from 8:00 a.m. until noon. After that, the only option for in-person voters will be on the day of the primary runoff: Tuesday, April 22.
All mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked by April 22 and received by Municipal Clerk’s Offices by 5:00 p.m. on April 30 in order to be counted. Anyone who voted in the April 1 primary may only vote in the same party’s runoff but are free to vote however they want in the June 3 general election. Registered voters who did not vote in the April 1 primary can vote in either party’s runoff on April 22.
You must be registered 30 days before the date of an election, primary or runoff to cast a ballot in Mississippi and must bring an accepted form of voter ID. More information on voter ID, including how to obtain a free voter ID, is available here.
For questions, please contact the Elections Division at 1-800-829-6786, email ElectionsAnswers@sos.ms.gov, or visit YallVote.ms or contact your municipal clerk’s office directly.
Comments are closed.