Politics
Seven African American Mayors You Haven’t Heard About Yet
Heather McTeer-Hudson
Greenville, MS
A two-term mayor, and the first black one, McTeer-Hudson is an ambitious one. Recently, the 35-year-old Spelman College and Tulane University graduate announced her 2012 bid for the Second District Congressional seat in Mississippi, a seat long-held by Democrat Bennie Thompson. While born and raised in Greenville, McTeer-Hudson is far from being just any old municipal leader. She’s been appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency to chair its local government group on determining community-level environmental issues nationwide. She’s a lawyer bent on fixing the poverty level in Greenville, and after practicing law for so long, McTeer-Hudson was elected in 2003 as the city’s mayor and again in 2007.
Noted as one of the youngest black mayors in the country, McTeer-Gudson was the president of the National Conference of Black Mayors from 2008 through 2009. Still a practicing attorney and active participant in local education and joblessness discussions, her decision to race veteran Bennie Thompson for the second district of Mississippi is something Thompson said he is taking very seriously.
Source: The Atlanta Post
