Mayor of Mississippi's capital city trailing in runoff election amid federal bribery indictment

JACKSON, Miss. — The mayor of Mississippi's capital city, who's under indictment on federal bribery and conspiracy charges, trailed his opponent in Tuesday's Democratic primary runoff, according to unofficial vote totals released by the City Clerk's Office.

Preliminary results showed state Sen. John Horhn leading with 18,493 votes compared to two-term Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba 's 6,246 votes. The results of absentee votes had not yet been announced.

Horhn declared victory in the race.

''People are ready for something different,'' Horhn said in a recent interview. ''They are ready for change; they're ready for leadership; they're ready for better streets; they're ready for less crime; they're ready for more opportunities.''

The winner of the race will advance to the June 3 general election and will be expected to win given the city's political makeup.

Lumumba, Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens and Jackson City Council member Aaron B. Banks were indicted in November. The indictment alleges the three Democrats accepted payments, including $50,000 for the mayor's reelection campaign, from two people they thought were real estate developers looking to build a hotel near the downtown convention center. It turns out they worked for the FBI.

All three have pleaded not guilty.

''Residents have been, you know, told a narrative that should — that should give them every reason for us not to be here, right? And we're trying to make it clear that that's not who we are,'' Lumumba said Friday.

Lumumba and Horhn faced off in a Democratic mayoral primary once before in 2017. In that race, Lumumba defeated Horhn outright, earning 55% of the vote.

In the April 1 primary, Lumumba's vote share dropped to 17%. Horhn secured 48%, but fell short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff.

Within in the past week, Horhn received and benefitted the endorsement of Mississippi U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security, noted Eric R. Schmidt, an assistant professor of government and politics at Millsaps College.

''What's different is that he came very close to winning the Democratic Party nomination outright; and what's different as well is the cloud that the criminal indictment against the current mayor has cast over the race,'' Schmidt said.

Schmidt said the runoff winner will almost certainly be the next mayor of Jackson, noting that approximately 25,000 people voted in the April 1 Democratic primary and less than 400 voted in the corresponding Republican primary. ___ This story has been updated to correct the surname of Jody Owens.