A west Tennessee town elects their first African American mayor

Gene Bowden has made history by becoming the first African American mayor in Whiteville, Tennessee.

With 46% of the votes Gene Bowden gave hope to the African American community in Whiteville.

Although this was his first time running for any political office he knew that his support system would help him make change.

“And it was a grass root effort, we got out there and we literally at the end i guess the last three weeks, we knocked on every door that we could", says Bowden.

Bowden says he saw the community become energized about voting during this election.

People were getting registered and going out to vote.

“Moving forward I hope they will be encouraged to go out and vote because they see how necessary and how important it is", adds Bowden.

Mayor-Elect says he has a vision for the small town of about 3,000 like bringing more businesses and residents in but he also knows there are challenges that come with that.

“We have to make sure that our infrastructure will support new businesses, new residents. So, there are challenges but we are up to those challenge in terms of growing our city", says the new mayor.

Bowden will be sworn in on September 14th, here in the downtown area near City Hall. Imani Williams, for 39 News, in Jackson.