Nothing is going to stop Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler any time soon, not even cancer.
Despite being diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, which she publicly announced last week, the political dynamo told the Clarion Ledger she has no intention of stepping down or not running for another term in office in 2025.
“Absolutely, I am running,” she said Monday. “I will be there.”
Hawkins Butler spent the last several years caring for her husband, James, who died from a type of brain cancer in 2023. Now, she will be caring for her own cancer as she moves forward.
She would not go into detail about her prognosis or her treatment plan going forward.
“I really just wanted the people of Madison to know about the diagnosis,” she said. “They deserve to know that.”
Hawkins Butler is the second longest-serving female mayor in the nation. She is finishing out her 11th consecutive term.
Known as Mayor Mary, she is credited with turning a small city with little or no identity into what it is today, one of the most desirable cities in which to live in the state. Back in the 1980s, the city’s budget was only a few hundred thousand dollars. It’s now more than $30 million.
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In 1981, when Hawkins Butler became mayor of Madison, the city’s population was 2,200.
More than 40 years later, Madison’s population is more than 25,000, and the city often makes lists as one of the most desirable places in which to live in the state.
Madison has been listed in national publications. Family Circle magazine once listed Madison as one of the best places in the nation in which to raise a family, citing the city’s strict building and zoning regulations, good schools, volunteerism and safety.
Hawkins Butler said she is not deterred by the recent health announcement and that everything she has had planned for the city will continue to move forward just as she plans to keep moving forward.
Hawkins Butler ran unopposed in 2021 and there is no one who has suggested they might run against her in 2025.
Hawkins Butler said she still has more to accomplish on the job, and she still has goals, whether stated or that she has in her mind.
“I don’t think the job is ever really complete,” Hawkins Butler previously told the Clarion Ledger. “We have always been a little town with a big vision. We have always wanted to be unique and special in Mississippi.”
Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Will Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler run again after cancer diagnosis?
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