Mayor to Announce Reelection Plans at State of the City

Muskogee Mayor John Tyler Hammons plans to announce his reelections intentions at his State of the City address next Thursday.

Hammons was first elected in the spring of 2008, when he was 19 years old, defeating long-time former mayor Hershel McBride, who was attempting to reenter city politics. At the time, this made Hammons the youngest mayor in the country, and his election drew significant media attention.

According to the Muskogee Phoenix, Hammons stated "I will be announcing whether I will be running for re-election as well as another thing that will be affecting our economy. I've been meeting with various other players, who I can’t identify at this time, who are on board with the idea and we'll be taking it to the public."

City Councilor Jim Ritchey has already announced his plans to run for mayor. The election will be held on April 6th, 2010.

I fully expect Mayor Hammons to run for reelection, mainly because he has not been able to accomplish much of what he originally set out to do - campaign finance reform, term limits, ward voting, et cetera.

Hammons will be delivering his State of the City address at the annual Chamber of Commerce luncheon at 11:30am on october 1st at the Muskogee Civic Center.