Jaylen Smith, an 18-year-old election candidate defeated Nemi Matthews
Sr. in a runoff election in the city of Earle, Arkansas to become the youngest Black mayor in the history of the United States.
In a tweet, Pop Crave announced Jaylen Smith’s victory. Check out the tweet:
Smith secured a total of 218 votes against
Matthews who secured 139 votes. Earle is a small town in Arkansas with a
population of fewer than 2000 people.
Who
is Jaylen Smith?
Jaylen Smith was born in 2004 in Earle,
Arkansas. He graduated from Earle High School in May 2022 and had been keen on
becoming the next mayor of his town.
Since 2020, he has been working at the Eternal
Light Funeral Service, a funeral home in Marianna, Arkansas.
On December 6, 2022, he defeated Nemi Matthews
Sr. in the runoff election. He became the youngest black mayor in the history
of the United States.
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“Citizens of Earle, Arkansas, it’s official!! I am your newly elected mayor of Earle, Arkansas… “It’s Time to Build a Better Chapter of Earle, Arkansas.” I would like to thank all my supporters for stepping up getting people to the polls. I am truly grateful for you all.”, he wrote on his Facebook after his victory.
On the day of the election, Smith wrote about his
aspirations as the new mayor. “When elected as your next Mayor of Earle,
Arkansas, our focus will be “Building A Better Chapter of Earle, Arkansas.”
That means improving our public safety, beautifying the city, abandon houses,
new housing, transportation, new businesses, grocery store, water systems,
flooding problems, streets, etc. Also implementing police safety plans, fire
safety plans, emergency plans for storms such as tornadoes, snow, flooding,
fires, shootings, and re-implementing our curfews.”
