Tiffany Henyard, the scandal-plagued mayor of Dolton, Illinois, has announced she is running for re-election as shocked critics reacted to the news.
Henyard made the announcement Tuesday on social media, as she battles accusations of wildly spending the city’s money and a federal criminal investigation into her and her allies.
The 41-year-old will run in the February Democratic primary against Dolton Trustee Jason House, who is campaigning alongside incumbent trustees as part of what they call the ‘Clean House’ slate.
Fellow Trustee Kiana Belcher, who has been running with House since their announcement in July, called Henyard’s re-election bid ‘ridiculous.’
‘The community does not want to continue under her leadership,’ Belcher told the New York Post. ‘I’m not shocked because I know her, definitely not shocked.’
‘Whatever happens, she’s not going out without a fight. That’s one thing I can say, she’s a true fighter so I’m not surprised,’ she added.
Incumbent Clerk Alison Key is running on the House-led ticket, as are Belcher, trustee Brittney Norwood, and Edward Steave, a one-time trustee who lost his re-election bid last year.
Henyard was ruthlessly mocked online for seeking re-election after a series of scandals.
‘Gonna be difficult to run for mayor from jail,’ one commenter wrote in a reply to her Facebook post announcing the re-election bid.
‘Surely the people will come together and get rid of you once and for all. If not, they deserve you sadly,’ another said.
Others expressed confusion as to why Henyard is ‘not in federal prison’ or said she should resign.
One user on X put it simply: ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
The list of alleged wrongdoings by Henyard and her allies has continued to grow since she became mayor in May 2021.
Henyard, who is paid a $300,000 salary, billed $7,650 to the village of Dolton for her hair and makeup team over just two months, listing it as an ‘assistant’ cost.
Other official expenses included $3,000 in airfare to Las Vegas, where she supposedly attended a conference.
After this and other questionable expenses emerged, the village’s board of trustees voted 4-2 to bring in former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to investigate.
Lightfoot presented her wide-ranging report in August, which revealed a $3.6 million deficit in the town’s budget under Henyard’s leadership.
A year after she took office, in April 2022, Dolton had a $5.6 million budget surplus.
Lightfoot said the village spent $7,700 at Target, Walgreens, Wayfair and other retailers on a single day in September 2023.
Lightfoot added that the village was doling out ‘rampant’ police overtime payments, including two officers who doubles their 2024 pay by raking in six figures’ worth of overtime each.
Shortly before the probe’s revelations, Dolton trustees banned Henyard from using village credit cards.
She is also facing a separate investigation from federal authorities.
WGN 9 previously reported that Henyard, her political committee, her cancer charity, her boyfriend, two of her relatives, four allied trustees, her deputy police chief and even her defunct burger business were all named in FBI subpoenas.
This is the second time Henyard is fighting for her political life.
A year into her tenure, the village’s board – composed of some of the people now running against her – placed two recall referendums on the ballot.
The recall effort came about largely because she hired convicted sex offender Lavelle Redmond as a code enforcement officer, a role that would require him to enter people’s homes.
In August 2022, Redmond was fired supposedly for talking to a reporter with The Chicago Tribune.
The first referendum asked if recalls should be allowed for mayors, to which 56 percent of voters said ‘yes.’
The second, contingent on the first passing, asked if Henyard should be recalled. Again, 56 percent voted in favor of yanking her seat.
Henyard sued in April and a three-judge panel with an appellate court sided with her in a September ruling, arguing that both referendums were drafted improperly.