Former Dolton, Illinois, Mayor Tiffany Henyard, widely derided as “America’s worst mayor” for her chaotic tenure, won her primary for Fulton County commissioner in Georgia after switching parties.
Henyard ran unopposed as a Republican in a generally safe Democratic seat, garnering 1,136 votes. She will face off in November against Helen Zenobia Willis or Sojourner Grimmett, who went to a runoff. Henyard lost her last primary election for mayor of Dolton by nearly 76 points.
“Thank you Fulton County for showing your support during this primary election,” Henyard said in an Instagram post, alongside an image of her in a gold outfit. “Project Phoenix activated.”
The comments on the post were turned off, presumably to ward off a flood of negative comments.
“Project Phoenix” is Henyard’s title for her self-proclaimed political comeback tour.
“This is project phoenix in the making, and project phoenix is me rising, me showing the world what it looks like to come out of controversy,” she said previously, then began to sing along to the 2009 Mariah Carey song “Obsessed.”
Despite her victory, Henyard won far fewer votes than any other candidate in the race, including three times fewer than the Democratic candidate who finished last in the primary. She received the fewest votes of all 18 candidates running for one of the three Fulton County board positions.
Henyard barely made the cut for the race after facing a residency challenge. She beat the challenge after revealing that she had moved to Georgia well before her term as mayor in Dolton was up.
Henyard drew national attention to the Chicago suburb over her severe financial mismanagement and use of village funds for her personal use. Her lavish spending plunged the village into $3.65 million of debt, though she vehemently refused to step down amid heavy public backlash.
An investigation from former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, requested by Dolton, found Henyard had spent huge sums on the village’s credit cards, including nine domestic trips, $43,000 spent on Amazon in one day, $8,000 in purchases at Wayfair, and $2,000 spent at Best Buy.
One of Henyard’s final town hall meetings ended in an all-out brawl after a resident called her a “b****,” and her boyfriend, Kamal Woods, led a charge against the detractor. Henyard herself entered the brawl at one point, losing a shoe.
ILLINOIS TOWN MEETING ENDS IN BRAWL AS ‘WORST MAYOR IN AMERICA’ MAKES AN APPEARANCE
Despite her hype around Project Phoenix, few analysts are taking her seriously.
“I don’t know what is motivating her candidacy, but she should use her vote tally as a harbinger of how she will perform in November,” Emory University associate political science professor Andra Gillespie told WGN Investigates. “Any Republican would be hard-pressed to win, and her issues only exacerbate the fact that she’s not a viable candidate in this district.”