‘I love my little town’: A 21-year-old in Georgia is the youngest woman mayor in US history

When Brooke Huckaby decided to run for mayor, the 21-year-old knew she was the youngest candidate of her tiny Georgia hometown.

But it wasn’t until her swearing in ceremony in January that she found out she holds the title as the country’s youngest ever female mayor.

“When I found out I was the youngest mayor in Georgia history, I was like, wow, that’s really cool ,” says Brooke. “But when I found out I was the youngest female mayor in United States history, I was like, Oh, my gosh, I wasn’t trying to start a record or anything.”

Brooke grew up with local politics. Her father, Craig Huckaby, had served as mayor of Arabi – a farm town in southern Georgia with fewer than 500 residents – for the past 12 years.

So when her father announced in June 2023 that he wouldn’t seek re-election, Brooke decided to join the family business.

“I love my little town,” Brooke says. “I didn’t run for this election to get published all in the movies and get any sort of attention. I did it because I care about my community.”

One challenge, Brooke says, has been addressing her much older colleagues as mayor.

“It’s hard for me to realize that in council meetings, I’m the one to take charge over people that I have known my whole life or that are older than me,” Brooke says.

Brooke calls herself a Republican but ran and was elected as a non-partisan candidate. She says many of her friends are Democrats. Her best friend doesn’t agree with her politics, but Brooke says that hasn’t fractured their friendship.

“She told me, ‘Brooke, I love you so much. But when you’re up for governor I’m not voting for you.’”

And governor is a role she’d love to run for eventually. So far as mayor Brooke has worked to establish a police department, which will soon hire its first police chief, and is finishing a road replacement in the town.

Brooke has lived in Arabi for most of her life as the youngest of three sisters, “always the one tagging along, the little sister forced on them because I wanted to be just like them,” she said. She grew up helping her father at the cotton gin, and now studies agricultural technology management at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and works as a part time laboratory worker at the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

In her free time, Brooke likes to play tennis with her friends, though amid her busy schedule, “sleep is great.” At school, her friends regularly drop Brooke’s credentials in front of groups – “I think it’s hilarious” – but she prefers to be more humble.

“I am not the person that’s gonna go up to anybody and be like, “Oh, I’m the mayor.’ If you ask any of my friends, I won’t tell anybody.”

Vernon Jones, a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives who confirmed to Brooke that she was the youngest female mayor, said : “It was an inspiration to see someone that young as mayor… to take up that mantle of leadership and be able to inspire others not only to lead the older generation, but to inspire the next generation.”

Some people question if she is old enough to lead the town. Brooke says she has “more experience than the average 21-year-old,” noting that she has worked as a Chick-fil-A front of house trainer, a legal assistant for a law office, and an office manager for a chiropractic office.

Older members of the town and several Crisp County commissioners have called her offering their advice and backing. “You only know as much as they tell you. But to my face, I’ve gotten a lot of support,” Brooke says.

Her age could give her an edge on TikTok, Instagram, and other social media sites, where Gen Z political activists and even officeholders regularly amplify their political messaging – or share snippets of their personal life. But Brooke doesn’t really use those platforms herself.

“I feel our social media has created such a disconnect between everybody,” she says. “My whole claim was that I wanted to stay real [to] who I am, my beliefs and my community. We’re really agriculturally based. That’s what I’m here for.”

Despite her conservative politics, Brooke says it is important to include multiple perspectives when making decisions. Her father regularly cautions her to hear both sides.

“We should be able to have differences and still get along with each other. That’s the problem with our politics nowadays,” she says. “It’s so divided for no reason, and if adults could just act like adults, I feel like we’d get a lot further.”