Muskogee Mayoral Race Update

Quite a bit has happened since my last post on the Muskogee mayoral race. The last I posted of, sitting Councilman Jim Ritchey announced for mayor on August 20th, and Mayor John Tyler Hammons announced for reelection on November 30th.

The past two days have added new developments.

Chris James, a local travel agent, announced his candidacy for mayor at an event on Tuesday attended by about 150 people, according to reports by the Muskogee Phoenix. James was introduced by former mayor Wren Stratton, who immediately preceeded Mayor Hammons.

On Wednesday, Jim Ritchey withdrew from the race, and threw his support to Chris James. Ritchey will instead run for a second term on the city council. James appears to be uniting the anti-Hammons segment, as well as some of the more "establishment" crowd in Muskogee.

James has a reputation for being somewhat... immature (he has quite a few pictures on his Facebook page many would consider obscene), while Hammons is perceived by some to only be looking for his political future, as he has stated in the past that he wants to run for Governor and President. It remains to be seen as to which of the candidates will be able to garner the support necessary to win this race, and whether or not more candidates will jump in. Filing for the April 6th election begins next week.