‘I love my little town’: A 21-year-old is the youngest woman mayor in US history
www.independent.co.uk
Brooke Huckaby, 21, did not find out she was the country’s youngest female mayor until her swearing in ceremony in January, writes Isaac Lozano
    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      53·
      3 months ago

      Yeah, it’s pretty bad. It’s literally “my dad, the former mayor, didn’t run so I ran in his place.” Personally, I would have a hard time voting for her, no matter how good her father was. Fuck political inheritance. That’s damn near antithetical to the ideal of (the American vision of) democracy.

      • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
        41·
        3 months ago

        If there was no one running against her: People should get involved if they disagree

        If there was someone running against her: She’s the one who got elected

        As far as I understand her father didn’t just give her the position…

        • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
          13·
          3 months ago

          Family connections can go a long way. Sure, anyone can be elected, but knowing all the donors and having someone who understands the process puts you ahead of almost anyone else.

          • Ostrichgrif@lemmy.world
            7·
            3 months ago

            I have family that lives about 50 miles from this town. It’s a drive through town with ~500 residents, the biggest businesses are Dollar General and Wendy’s. I would be shocked if there were any substantial donors to her campaign

            • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
              4·
              3 months ago

              You’re probably right, but regardless having someone to take you through the process is huge. If we assume democracy is supposed to be fair and free, shouldn’t this be provided to everyone equally?

            • Wrench@lemmy.world
              3·
              3 months ago

              So it’s more like she threw her hat in the ring to be HOA president, and either no one else ran, or her family name was enough to take it.

              Still, Mayor’s do have power to fuck things up if they want. Seems kind of crazy to let a 21 year old take the reigns.

              • Ostrichgrif@lemmy.world
                1·
                3 months ago

                I agree that having a 21 year old mayor is crazy, but I think you’re misunderstanding the context here. There are no HOAs within 20 miles of this community. It’s incredibly rural, with most houses “in town” being on plots of at least half an acre. Most of the residents live outside of that area and are on significantly larger plots of land. It seems like the community just really liked her dad and decided to stay with what they know, or at least the closest thing to that.

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
        5·
        3 months ago

        I am sure you appreciated Bush 2 Electric Boogaloo, Hillary Clinton’s disastrous run that only happened because she had insider clout from her husband to shut down the Sanders campaign, RFK Jr the “My daddy was a civil rights hero who was shot” candidate, and the constant calls for Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton to save us?

        Being a close relative of someone who held a position should disqualify you from that position - there is far too much hereditary bullshit in American politics.

          • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            3 months ago

            Chicago famously had two mayor Daleys and they nearly destroyed the city with corruption. It’s not healthy to have nepotism in a democracy - it causes far more problems than accidental good candidates it occasionally misses.

        • Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca
          5·
          3 months ago

          I might have missed it, the article says she was elected but also doesn’t mention how many opponents there were running against her or what the vote share was.

          Was there actually a vote?

    • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
      3·
      3 months ago

      That not correct maybe in Georgia but in Texas we had a 21 one year old mayor in Gunbarrel City for all of 6 months before he was removed for violating financial of the city to run his personal newspaper he owned. But not the youngest is US history.

      • cmbabul@lemmy.world
        3·
        3 months ago

        Texas and Georgia might be the two most likely states for a Gunbarrel City to exist in. I say that as a Georgian

        • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
          2·
          3 months ago

          Maybe but definitely remember the 21 year old mayor when I lived in Athens Texas. Gunbarrell City was only town we could legally buy liquor. I also met the mayor because our neighbors were friends of his family and bragged endlessly about how this 21 year old was the youngest mayor ever. It was funny when he was recalled they didn’t talk about him anymore.

          This would have been around 2002 if you want to look it up. But this woman is not the youngest ever.

      • thefartographer@lemm.ee
        9·
        3 months ago

        6 year-old mayor. Stay out of prison or create CSAM deepfakes?

        Checkmate… Atheists? Who are we offending tonight?

      • TheBigBrother@lemmy.world
        5·
        3 months ago

        I’ve read something some days ago about a candidate I can’t remember if she was rep or dem who dropped her political career because some deepfakes popped up.

        • qarbone@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          3 months ago

          If it was same one (I don’t want to think about how many might have been pressured to quit their dreams over deepfake porn), it was a young lady from Florida.

      • Omgarm@lemmy.world
        5·
        3 months ago

        The deepfake porn gets too good and people think she combines it with being mayor, I guess.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
    8·
    3 months ago

    To be fair, with a population of only 500, the only job qualifications for being Mayor are

    • Literate
    • GED or equivalent
    • Have a pulse