Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) John Tyler Hammons, 19, of Muskogee, Okla., stands outside the Muskogee Municipal Building, where he'll soon start work as mayor.   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Rick Steves, take us away 5/17/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Saturday, May 17, 2008 Small town mayor is still a teen Oklahoma city elects a 19-year-old mayor Scripps Howard News Service MUSKOGEE, Okla. -- John Tyler Hammons may have already performed his grandest feat as mayor, even before taking office. He put Muskogee in the national spotlight. Hammons, 19, beat an opponent three and a half times his age in a runoff election this week, receiving nearly 70 percent of the vote. Hammons, who just completed his first year at the University of Oklahoma, has been fielding questions this week from national news networks and producers of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "Everybody has the same question," said Hammons, who will be a delegate to the Republican National Convention in the fall. "'Why would you do this at 19?' I think they're fair questions. A lot of people are asking if I think I can do this. Of course I think I can do this, or I wouldn't have run. The voters think I can do this. It's amazing what some people think you don't know." Even though he hasn't taken office yet, Hammons was sitting in the mayor's office this week, getting used to the feel of leading the city of about 40,000, 50 miles southeast of Tulsa. He's polished, stays on message and isn't fazed by tough questions about the future of Muskogee or pending labor talks with the firefighters union. Former Mayor Hershel McBride, 70, whom Hammons defeated this week, complimented the incoming mayor on running a clean race, and said he intends to continue volunteering in the community. "I told him he could call if he ever has any questions, since I used to be mayor," McBride said.

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