 The new mayor of Hillsdale, Michigan, is a man of the people, ready to listen to their every concern, but only until 6 p.m. Then he has to do his homework.
The local elections on Tuesday may have been dismal for George Bush's Republican party, but they were a triumph for Michael Sessions, an independent who emerged as the country's youngest mayor at the age of 18.
Mr. Sessions, who is too young to drink in his own town, won by just two votes after a recount. By 670 votes to 668, he beat the sitting mayor, who is 51, and had all the advantages of incumbency. And he won despite the fact that his name was not even on the ballot.
He was too young to file as a candidate by the spring deadline for registration, so after he turned 18 he entered as a write-in candidate - meaning voters had to remember his name and add it to the ballot by hand in order to support him. The circumstances make his triumph all the more likely to be a model for future insurgent candidates.
| 
XML/RSS/RDF Newsfeed Syndication: http://freeinternetpress.com/rss.php
