Jackson Free Press

The field is set for the special election to replace Quentin Whitwell as Jackson Ward 1 Councilman.

The last man—all six candidates are men—in is Bob Hickingbottom. Well-known to insiders as a controversial operative in political opposition tactics, Hickingbottom was a close ally of late Mayor Frank Melton, once organizing a rally after Melton was indicted on charges related to Melton's destruction of a west Jackson duplex in 2006 and often taking to local airwaves to lambast Melton's critics.

Hickingbottom resurfaced during the 2013 as the founder of a political-action committee called Citizens for a Better Jackson that ran radio ads that painted then-Councilman Chokwe Lumumba as insufficiently Christian.

Many believed Hickingbottom's PAC also produced a flyer placed on windshields outside churches days before the election that cast Lumumba a "race traitor" and Jackson police informant during the 1970s, which he would neither confirm or deny.

Recently, Hickingbottom addressed the Jackson City Council and requested the Ward 1 race be subject to partisan primaries so that he would not have to run against so many Republicans.

Even though the special election is nonpartisan, all the candidates have ties to established political parties. Attorney Dorsey Carson has sought public office as a Democrat in the past. The other four contenders—businessman Amile Wilson, teacher Richard Sellers, finance professional Ashby Foote and retired guardsman Charles Barbour are Republicans.

A Jackson Free Press reporter called the telephone number Hickingbottom listed on his city qualifying forms, but a man who answered said Hickingbottom was away and would return the message. A subsequent call and email were not returned as of press time.