A 19-year-old is Running for Mayor

John Hammons, a 19-year-old college student, is running for mayor in Muskogee, Oklahoma. If elected, he’d be one of the youngest mayors in the country. We already have a young mayor right in our backyard. The mayor of Roland, Oklahoma was elected at the ripe old age of twenty-two. We caught up with him, and he says, he has some advice for this ambitious Muskogee teen. Monty Lenington is only twenty-three. He’s been in office in Roland for almost a year, and he says having a young guy in charge is not a bad idea. Lenington says, "I think sometimes its good to have a fresh face, fresh ideals, you know. New generations coming up, voicing their opinions, and you know, sometimes its nice to have a new perspective on things." Lenington says, he’s had some trouble getting people to take him seriously, but he says, age has nothing to do with capability. Lenington explains, "Older, younger, I think its more of the person. If youve got the ambition to do it, it doesnt matter what your age is." Mayor Lenington says, he has some words of wisdom for Hammons. He says, “Just do what you think is right. No matter what, just do what you think is right." If elected, Hammons actually won’t be the youngest mayor in history. That record is set at eighteen.