The Jackson city council seat left open by former Ward 2 councilwoman Angelique Lee’s resignation and indictment has been filled by Montyne “Tina” Clay.
Clay, a Jackson businesswoman and philanthropist, and Marcus Cheatham, a retired military officer, went to a runoff after neither received more than 50% in the general election earlier this month. Clay and Cheatham bested four other challengers to force the bonus election.
Unofficial vote counts tallied late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning show Clay with 1,509 votes to Cheatham’s 920 – enough to call the race before 59 absentee ballots were counted.
Clay takes over the Ward 2 seat with less than a year remaining in the term. Municipal elections in the capital city, which will include all city council seats and the mayoral seat, are set for the spring of 2025. No official date has been scheduled.
In August, Lee was the first to fall in a swelling federal corruption investigation involving Jackson city officials. Another indictment was handed down last week in which three “unindicted co-conspirators” were characterized as elected officials in the city.
