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‘I love my little town’: A 21-year-old in Georgia is the youngest woman mayor in US history
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2024
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politics
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I'd be mildly amused by this story but it's literally just nepotism
Yeah, it's pretty bad. It's literally "my dad, the former mayor, didn't run so I ran in his place." Personally, I would have a hard time voting for her, no matter how good her father was. Fuck political inheritance. That's damn near antithetical to the ideal of (the American vision of) democracy.
If there was no one running against her: People should get involved if they disagree
If there was someone running against her: She's the one who got elected
As far as I understand her father didn't just give her the position...
Family connections can go a long way. Sure, anyone can be elected, but knowing all the donors and having someone who understands the process puts you ahead of almost anyone else.
I have family that lives about 50 miles from this town. It's a drive through town with ~500 residents, the biggest businesses are Dollar General and Wendy's. I would be shocked if there were any substantial donors to her campaign
You're probably right, but regardless having someone to take you through the process is huge. If we assume democracy is supposed to be fair and free, shouldn't this be provided to everyone equally?
So it's more like she threw her hat in the ring to be HOA president, and either no one else ran, or her family name was enough to take it.
Still, Mayor's do have power to fuck things up if they want. Seems kind of crazy to let a 21 year old take the reigns.
I agree that having a 21 year old mayor is crazy, but I think you're misunderstanding the context here. There are no HOAs within 20 miles of this community. It's incredibly rural, with most houses "in town" being on plots of at least half an acre. Most of the residents live outside of that area and are on significantly larger plots of land. It seems like the community just really liked her dad and decided to stay with what they know, or at least the closest thing to that.
Sure but in the end it's the people who vote who have the last word
Not really, either she got elected or no one bothered to show up as an alternative.
I am sure you appreciated Bush 2 Electric Boogaloo, Hillary Clinton's disastrous run that only happened because she had insider clout from her husband to shut down the Sanders campaign, RFK Jr the "My daddy was a civil rights hero who was shot" candidate, and the constant calls for Michelle Obama and Chelsea Clinton to save us?
Being a close relative of someone who held a position should disqualify you from that position - there is far too much hereditary bullshit in American politics.
We're talking town elections here
Chicago famously had two mayor Daleys and they nearly destroyed the city with corruption. It's not healthy to have nepotism in a democracy - it causes far more problems than accidental good candidates it occasionally misses.
Not sure how you are defining nepotism here.
Her dad was mayor and she's inheriting it.
I might have missed it, the article says she was elected but also doesn't mention how many opponents there were running against her or what the vote share was.
Was there actually a vote?
That's not how that works. That's not how any of this works!