Jackson Free Press

Tyrone Hendrix is used to managing campaigns, but his recent foray into politics as a candidate also proved successful.

Tuesday, Hendrix emerged victorious as Jackson's newest Ward 6 councilman.

In a runoff election against attorney Dennis Sweet IV, Hendrix captured 56 percent of the 2,143 votes cast.

In a June 17 special election, Hendrix came out on top with 546 votes. Sweet was only nine votes behind with 537 votes total. Rashaad Crisler came in third place with 429 votes.

Hendrix was born and raised in Jackson. He is a longtime Democratic Party operative who helped manage Jonathan Lee's campaign for mayor in 2013 and worked with Regina Quinn during the recent special election for mayor. Before working for Lee last year, Hendrix--who runs a political consulting firm with his wife, Ercilla--was deputy campaign manager for Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny Dupree's 2011 gubernatorial bid.

He was also state director for Organizing for America, a grassroots advocacy group affiliated with the Democratic National Committee, and other community-organizing groups. During the 2009 Jackson mayor's race, Hendrix worked on the campaigns for state Sen. John Horhn in the Democratic primary and Harvey Johnson in the runoff and general election. In 2008, Hendrix worked on Barack Obama's first presidential campaign.

In a recent interview with Jackson Free Press, Hendrix explained what his top priorities would be if he obtained the Ward 6 seat.

"Hands down, in the first few weeks I'll be going to the residents of Ward 6," Hendrix said. "I think that we can't get so caught up in what we think the issues are, and I think we have a pretty good sense of what they are because I, personally, go knock on doors and make phone calls every day to residents of Ward 6. But at that particular time I think we'll have to reinforce what we think the biggest issues are.

"...We also have problems with our children not having a place to go so they walk the street, they stay at home, they get in trouble. They say an idle mind is the devil's workshop. The saying is often used, but it also applies particularly in Ward 6 because a lot of places have closed down, particularly the parks. The park areas that we have in the ward, if they are open, they are unsightly. It's not inviting for people to want to come and spend time in that green space, which would be a great place for kids to go."