Nothing will stop Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler anytime 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 that she has no plans to resign or run for another term in 2025.
“Absolutely, I’m running,” she said Monday. “I’ll be there.”
Hawkins Butler spent the last several years caring for her husband, James, who died in 2023 from a form of brain cancer. Now she will take care of her own cancer in the future.
She did not want to 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 country. She is completing her eleventh consecutive term.
Known as Mayor Mary, she is credited with turning a small town with little or no identity into what it is today: one of the most desirable cities to live in in the state. In the 1980s, the city’s budget was only a few hundred thousand dollars. It is now over $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 has a population of more than 25,000, and the city often makes lists as one of the most desirable places to live in the state.
Madison has been featured in national publications. Family Circle magazine once called Madison one of the best places in the country 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 planned for the city will continue to move forward, just as she plans to keep moving forward.
Hawkins Butler ran unopposed in 2021 and no one has suggested they could run against her in 2025.
Hawkins Butler said she still has more to accomplish at work, and she still has goals, whether formulated or in mind.
“I don’t think the job is ever really complete,” Hawkins Butler previously told the Clarion Ledger. “We’ve always been a small town with a big vision. We’ve 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?
