WASHINGTON, May 15: It’s certainly a good start: a 19-year-old political science student who dreams of becoming US president was elected mayor of Muskogee, Oklahoma, beating a 70-year-old for the job .

John Tyler Hammons, a first-year student at the University of Oklahoma, won the job to lead the city of 40,000 with 70 per cent of the vote over a former mayor. The incumbent did not take part in the race.

“The campaign was great, it was fun and we won the trust of the people,” Hammons said. “I want an open government. I don’t have the monopoly on good ideas,” he said.

For Hammons, who will take office on Monday for a two-year term, it is only the beginning of a political career.—AFP