A prominent Democratic mayor in north Mississippi said she’s seeking a second term this year but is running as an independent.

Robbyn Tannehill had served as a Democrat on the Oxford Board of Aldermen before being elected mayor in 2017. She was chosen in 2020 to serve on a commission that designed a new Mississippi state flag.

“I believe with all of my heart that at the local level we need to be as bipartisan as possible to be able to achieve our greatest potential,” Tannehill said Monday, according to the Oxford Eagle.

She said that garbage pickup, potholes, clean water, fire protection and police protection “aren’t Democrat or Republican issues.”

“If we tune out politics and the rhetoric we hear on the national news, our neighbors are just that. They’re our neighbors,” said Tannehill, who was the only candidate to enter the Oxford mayor’s race on the first day of qualifying.

Most Mississippi cities are having elections this year. Party primaries are in April and the general election is in June. New four-year terms begin July 1.