An Arkansas town has elected an 18-year-old as the youngest black mayor in the US. Jaylen Smith, who still lives in his parents’ house, will be the next leader of the town of Earle, population 1,785. The losing challenger hailed him as “a good race.”
Not even a year has passed since Jaylen Smith learned the power of the younger generation vote as a student body leader at his high school in Arkansas, now the talented young man is about to apply his experience as the youngest black mayor ever elected in the US. Last Tuesday Smith ‘, the 18-year-old, won the election for mayor of the town, and became the next leader of the small municipality of Arles, which has a population of 1,785 people.
“You have to start somewhere,” Smith, who graduated from Earl High School last summer after three years as student body president, told The Washington Post.
Campaign of the young mayor: “The future leads the future”
“I didn’t want to be 30 or 40 years old and then be the mayor of the town when I could be like that now.” Smith, who lives at home with his parents, said his mother couldn’t stop crying with excitement when the results came. He won with 235 votes against Nami Matthews, the city’s sanitation inspector, who received 183 votes.
Matthews congratulated Smith on Facebook: “I congratulate Mayor-elect Jaylen Smith on a well-run race, I wish you the best of luck.” Smith said the town’s youngsters carried him to victory. “They wanted to see a change, I actually won because of them” he said. Smith said that he consulted with several mayors around the country before his campaign, and thanked them for their advice. In his message published on Facebook, he said that it was “time to build a better chapter” for his city.