Jackson Free Press

As we told you yesterday, state Sen. John Horhn officially joined the Jackson mayoral race this morning at Cade's Courtyard on Mayes Street. Horhn ran for mayor in 2009 and is known for drawing bipartisan and multiracial support.

Here is his 2009 JFP Interview when he was running for mayor: http://www.jfp.ms/horhn2009

We will post audio of his announcement shortly.

In other mayoral news, Albert Wilson and Kenneth A. Swarts have filed paperwork to qualify to run for mayor.

To date, six candidates have officially announced either at a press event and/or directly to the Jackson Free Press: Harvey Johnson Jr., Tony Yarber, Melvin Priester Jr., Regina Quinn, Chokwe Antar Lumumba and John Horhn. Margaret Barrett-Simon said she will decide by the end of the week. We are hearing that Robert Graham may run, but have not confirmed one way or the other. Jonathan Lee said he is not running.

We'll keep you posted on new developments. Follow this blog at http://www.jfp.ms/politicsblog for the latest.

CORRECTION ABOVE: I originally said that candidates have qualified. The city clerk corrected me to say that they have filed paperwork: "The commissioners are verifying the signatures and will qualify the candidates upon completion of their process." I apologize for the error.

In a move that contradicts the plethora of hats flying into the mayoral ring this week, Jonathan Lee posted on his Facebook page last night that he is not running in the mayoral special election (news broken on Twitter by Ross Adams of WJTV). It was rumored that Lee, a favorite of the business community in his run for the office last year, was interested in running again but was on the fence. We also understand that the business community has been conducting a poll to determine where it will put its collective support, but are not aware of findings at this point.

Ross Adams reported yesterday that 10 candidate packets had been picked up at City Hall. So far, Harvey Johnson Jr., Antar Lumumba, Melvin Priester Jr. and Tony Yarber have officially announced or will today. The Associated Press reported last night that Sen. John Horhn will officially enter the race Wednesday. Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon says she is considering a run and will decide by week's end. We will post other candidate information as we receive it (send to [email protected] or [email protected]).

Here is a screenshot of Lee's statement announcing that he is not running.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/mar/11/16342/

We just saw Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon's Facebook posting indicating that she might announce for mayor by the end of the week. Here is a screenshot. We'll keep you posted.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/mar/10/16336/

Someone just forwarded me a letter they say was distributed today at Cade Chapel M.B. Church that appears to be from former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. asking for support in his run in the special mayor election. We have been hearing that he is running again, and are trying to confirm it from him directly. Here is a JPG of the letter forwarded to us. I apologize that it's a bit blurry.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/mar/09/16321/

UPDATED

I just ran into a Facebook post that hints that (a) Councilman Tony Yarber might be running for mayor and (b) that the hashtag #runtonyrun is trending.

After posting about it earlier, Yarber got back in touch with me via Facebook message, saying: "I'm heavily considering a run. I'm being encouraged by a lot of people. Most importantly, people I trust."

When asked when he would decide, he said: "There won't be an announcement right now. I'm going to watch my children do liturgical mime and dance tonight."

Meantime, here are the social-media posts, and a screenshot of the #runtonyrun tags on Twitter that seem associated with him (and I saw three on Facebook). My sense is that there may be more of an effort to take it trend.

And we're off.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/mar/09/16320/

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/mar/09/16318/

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/mar/09/16319/