The new 19 year-old mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma, seeks campaign finance reform, according to this report.
Hammons wants to hit the ground running as mayor, but there has been no shortage of distractions since he won Tuesday’s runoff election with nearly 70 percent of the vote over Hershel McBride, 70, a former three-term mayor. He replaces Wren Stratton, who decided not to seek re-election.
Besides numerous interview requests, Hammons has received a proposal for a book deal, invitations to appear on national talk shows and three offers for a reality television program.
As mayor, his first priorities are the creation of an independent ethics commission to monitor elected and appointed city officials. He also wants to establish campaign finance reporting requirements for those running for office.
“I’m sure the (city) council will work with me on these issues,” he said. “I campaigned on this, and this is something I intend to push.
“First and foremost, Muskogee is my one and only interest right now,” Hammons said from his office inside the city’s municipal building.
The senior class president at Muskogee High School in 2007, he served as president of both the Young Republicans and the Young Democrats clubs.
“I threw my name in both rings … and lo and behold, both groups elected me,” he said.
Hammons, a registered Republican, is Oklahoma’s youngest at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention. But when it comes to serving as mayor of Muskogee, an unpaid position, he plans to govern in a nonpartisan way.
“Politics stop at the door,” Hammons said. “If someone wants to talk politics, I will literally leave the office and leave the building if I have to. In this office, it needs to be Muskogee-oriented.”