Mary Hawkins Butler

Mary Hawkins Butler (born December 12, 1953) has served since 1981 as the Republican Party mayor of Madison in suburban Jackson, Mississippi. She is serving her tenth consecutive four-year term.[1] First elected to office at age twenty-eight, she is among the longest-serving mayors in the United States.

Mary Hawkins Butler
Mayor of Madison, Mississippi
Assumed office
1981
Personal details
Born (1953-12-12) December 12, 1953
Mississippi
Political partyRepublican
Alma materBelhaven University

Career

She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Belhaven University in the capital city of Jackson.

Butler was an alderman prior to her election as mayor of Madison in 1981. In 2021, Butler filed a lawsuit to overturn a voter-approved medical marijuana ballot initiative.[2] She claimed there is a flaw in the state initiative process therefore medical marijuana initiative is invalid. Supreme Court of Mississippi agreed with Butler and overturned the medical marijuana initiative.[3]

Butler ran unsuccessfully for state auditor in the 2015 elections against incumbent Stacey E. Pickering of Laurel in the Republican primary.[4]

Controversies


On April 23, 2015, Hawkins Butler gave her annual "State of the City Address," in which she compared city engineer Rudy Warnock to a corrupt state official, Chris Epps. As a result, Warnock threatened a lawsuit against Hawkins Butler. She has publicly stated that she believes the entire Madison Board of Directors is corrupt, even saying that all of its members need to be replaced.[5]


October 28, 2004: The third arrest involving a public corruption investigation in Madison county nets the husband of an elected official. James Butler, the husband of Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler, was picked up Wednesday on a five count indictment.James Butler was indicted on five charges related to the alleged scheme to defraud an elderly woman from Texas out of the true value of her Madison county land. WLBT, channel 3 local news, Jackson, MS

Deciding the she disrespected the voters of Mississippi so intensely, Ms. Butler challenged the Medical Marijuana Initiative in August of 2018. 74% of Mississippians voted to allow Medical Marijuana in our state but that wasn't good enough for this electoral defying small town mayor! by MPB News • Published on May 14, 2021

References
  1. "Ridgeland, Madison mayors hold off challengers". WAPT. May 3, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
  2. "Mississippi Supreme Court overturns voter-approved medical marijuana initiative". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-05-15.
  3. "Mississippi Supreme Court overturns voter-approved medical marijuana initiative". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  4. "Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler qualifies to run for auditor". Jackson Clarion-Ledger. February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  5. Fowler, Sarah (April 24, 2015). "'Going for the jugular' - Warnock to sue Madison mayor". The Clarion-Ledger.
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