Candidates in Jackson’s 2025 municipal races raised and spent over half a million dollars, at least, on their campaigns for office, mostly in the mayor’s race.

John Horhn, a 32-year state senator from Jackson, dominated the primary election April 1, receiving over 48% of the unofficial vote after raising over $101,000 and spending about half that in 2025.

Incumbent Mayor Chokwe Lumumba and Horhn, who are expected to challenge each other in the April 22 runoff, have significantly unequal war chests after Horhn out-raised Lumumba nearly 10-to-1 in 2025 so far, according to campaign finance reports.

By Mar. 23, Horhn reported having nearly $50,000 in cash on hand while Lumumba reported having about $46,000. However, Horhn’s campaign said it would file an amended report addressing that cash on hand total, since his previous report shows he raised $80,000 in 2024 and started 2025 with about $65,000, which should have left him $115,000 cash on hand if his most recent contribution and expenditure reporting is accurate.

Lumumba’s pre-election report shows he raised just $11,000 in 2025 so far, and told reporters after the primary that he has not been soliciting donations. Though he raised nearly $114,000 in 2024.

In addition to Horhn, two other campaigns for candidates in the mayor’s race brought in more than $100,000, both of which were primarily self-funded, but money did not necessarily equate to success at the polls.

While Marcus Wallace, a contractor and former mayor of Edwards, spent by far the most of any candidate, $190,000, which included a tour bus with his photo wrapped on its side, he received just 4% of the vote Tuesday, per the unofficial count.

Lumumba received about 17% of the unofficial vote, coming in second, despite the lower-dollar campaign. He filed his campaign finance report on Mar. 31, one day before the election and several days after the deadline.

The majority of candidates were also late or failed to file, including six unsuccessful mayoral candidates and five council candidates who still had not filed reports by Election Day. One Ward 6 council candidate who is expected to go to a runoff, Lashia Brown-Thomas, did not file a report, according to documents retrieved from the City Clerk. She told Mississippi Today her roughly $2,000 campaign was self-funded.

Money raised in council races varied greatly, from just over $4,000 in the three-candidate Ward 5 race to nearly $62,000 in the five-candidate Ward 7 race.

View the breakdown of the fundraising and spending with links to reports retrieved from the City Clerk’s office below. Through a public records request for all reports, the Clerk did not provide all reports filed, so some of the data was retrieved in-person. Some candidates said they filed reports, such as James Hopkins, who said he filed Thursday, but they were not provided by the clerk.

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