As of Feb. 1, four candidates have filed to run for mayor of Hattiesburg in the upcoming municipal election: incumbent Mayor Toby Barker, Stacy L. Daniels, LaKeylah White and Vanessa J. Jones.
The deadline to fill out qualifying paperwork for the primary election, which will be held April 8, is 5 p.m. Feb. 5. Daniels, White and Jones, who are all Democrats, will face off in the primary election on April 6; as an independent, Barker will advance directly to the June 8 general election.
The following is a brief rundown of each candidate, alphabetized by name, who has as of yet submitted paperwork to Hattiesburg City Hall.
Toby Barker
Barker joined the Mississippi House of Representatives in 2007, when he was elected to replace Lee Jarrell Davis, who retired as the District 102 representative. At age 25, Barker was the youngest representative elected in Mississippi at the time.
While in the House, Barker served as chairman of the House Performance Based Budgeting Committee. His other committee memberships include the Appropriations, Apportionment & Elections, Education, Medicaid, Public Health & Human Services and Technology committees.
He co-sponsored, negotiated and secured support for Senate Bill 2395 in 2103, which created the inaugural state investment in early childhood education. Eight years later, the Hattiesburg Public School District earned a $2.1 million grant for its collaborative as a result of that legislation.
In 2017, Barker defeated Johnny DuPree – who had served as mayor for 16 years – to earn the mayoral position.
As mayor, he has helped to pave more than 75 miles of city streets, secure the two largest federal grants in recent history to fund two railroad overpasses, complete water and sewer projects in every ward, and create recurring funding to assist with drainage projects across the city.
He also championed the 1% percent sales tax increase at Hattiesburg hotels, motel and restaurants that is helping fund almost 20 Parks and Recreation projects throughout the city.
“With a deliberate approach to seeing equitable progress across all wards and re-establishing our financial footing so that we can continue to dream big, we’ve moved the needle in a lot of areas,” Barker said “However, there remains much to do. I’m all in, and I’m asking our citizens to join me as we continue to achieve, to fight and to dream for the future for our incredible city.”
Stacy L. Daniels
Daniels graduated from Hattiesburg High School and Pearl River Community College before attending the University of Southern Mississippi. Daniels said he wants to run for mayor because he wants to bring law and order, along with respect and honor, to the city’s residents.
“Also, I want to make sure that we can do something about the minimum wage around here, and taking care of everybody’s problems,” he said. “We need to have discussions and make this town a better town.
“I saw that things weren’t getting done the right way around the city, and I said that somebody has to take a stand and make sure that things are done right. The peoples’ voice needs to be heard, so I got with my pastor at my church to see if this was the right decision for me to make. So I prayed about it, and here we are.”
Daniels worked for a law firm for approximately six years before taking an interest in politics.
“I just want to make sure that we get the best opportunities possible,” he said. “I want to run to make sure everybody’s being treated fairly – that it’s not one-sided – and to bring people in the community together as a whole.”
Vanessa J. Jones
Jones, who has been a resident of the Pine Belt for more than 20 years, works as an attorney. She said she is running for mayor to improve the lives of all of the Hub City’s residents and to make sure that no citizens are left behind.
“Hattiesburg has some serious problems which are keeping it from reaching its full potential: an education system ranked 121stout of 149 and earning a ‘D’ grade, a job market which works for some but not all of us, a transportation network in need of repair with streets full of potholes, and citizens living in neighborhoods without the sense of safety and security enjoyed by other citizens,” she said. “Hattiesburg can do this; let’s help each other.
“I am proposing a platform which addresses all of these concerns together. I call it HELP: Hattiesburg Engagement and Leveling the Playing field.”
Jones graduated Cum Laude from Alcorn State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a minor in military science. She was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, serving as a supervisor to the military police.
Jones is a 1994 graduate of Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, Texas and has been admitted to the Mississippi and Texas Bar Associations.
In 2000, she was appointed the first female African American assistant district attorney in Forrest and Perry counties. Jones has served as a justice court judge in Forrest County and as municipal court judge for the City of Hattiesburg, and is now a public defender in the 15thCircuit District.
“My desire to serve the Pine Belt is a continuance of my service to the United States of Mississippi,” Jones said. “As your mayor, I will have the privilege of continuing to represent this fine area, but at a cost.
“I recognize that I will sometimes be placed in the unenviable position of having to make tough decisions. Sometimes, it seems as though there are no real ‘winners’ when these decisions are made, and because of this, I do not make this declaration (for my mayoral run) lightly.”
LaKeylah White
White is the former director of the Hattiesburg Department of Urban Development and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a degree in community planning and urban development. She also earned an MBA from William Carey University.
In addition to serving as a city planner, White has worked for the North Mississippi Planning and Development District and the South Mississippi Planning Development District, helping to secure funding for municipalities and counties.
White serves in several civic organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Planning Association, the Forrest County Democratic Party, and the Gamma Phi Delta Business Sorority
“This race is so much bigger than me,” White said. “We hear people talk about letting everyone have a seat at the table, but at whose table and at what cost?
“(There will be) no more just looking out for friends or people who you can use to appear a certain way to our community. It’s time that we put the whole community first and do what is best for our entire community and not just a few. Our entire community is important, and we should not be handled without care and that is why I am running.”
White said her role as a community planner and grant administrator has afforded her the opportunity to shape municipalities all across the state, including Hattiesburg.
“During my tenure as senior city planner there was instrumental development of the city’s comprehensive plan that really benefited our community and our city – a plan that is still in place, I may add,” she said. The key is simple: keeping local businesses growing and developing, encouraging and enhancing the economic opportunities in our city, yielding results with community development, youth empowerment and community policing.”
