Latest news · September 28, 2026
The three candidates for mayor of Harrison.
All three spoke at the Boone County Republican Committee meeting yesterday in Harrison. Mayor Jerry Jackson is not seeking another term. The seat is on the November 3 municipal ballot.
Harrison’s mayor’s race is nonpartisan. The committee invited the filed candidates to speak. This page is a record of that evening, not an endorsement.
Mitch Magness
Current Ward 2, Position 1 council member, on the Harrison City Council for more than a decade, and a former member of the Harrison school board. He ran a family business for 25 years and now works at Southern Brothers Construction. He is leaving the council seat to run for mayor. Roni Combs and Truman Copeland have filed for the ward seat he would vacate.
Jason Watts
A business owner who says, first and foremost, he is a Christian, and that nothing comes before that. His grandparents, John and Tucky Zima, made Harrison home for nearly 40 years. He spent every summer here, bought their house in January, and has lived in it since. He is running so the town does not get changed by people who measure it on a spreadsheet. His line for the race is “Keep Harrison, Harrison.”
Rhonda Watkins
Ran for mayor in 2022, when she drew 1,554 votes to Jerry Jackson’s 2,239, and filed again for the open seat. A single mother of two daughters who worked two jobs, she has said neighbors asked her to run because they wanted to know where the tax money was going. She has served on the board of House of Hope and says the city should be proud to help people get housed. Campaign materials also use the name Rhonda Paul Watkins.