Nov. 4’s General Election was historic in more ways than one. Americans elected the first black candidate for President of the United States, and Chilton County voters elected the first independent candidate to the Chilton County Commission.

Tim Mims ran on Nov. 4’s ballot as the only independent running for one of the seven seats on the county commission. He received the largest number of votes in the 15-man race.

His success at the poles proved what Mims knew all along. And that is voters in Chilton County vote for the person and not necessarily because he or she is a Democrat or Republican.

Three Democrats and three Republicans were also elected on Nov. 4, putting Mims in a position where his vote on the commission not only matters but will be very important if the six other commissioners choose to vote along party lines.

Mims continued his winning ways when he was elected chairman of the commission on Wednesday morning. Winning two elections in the same month has to speak well for his newly formed Independent Party.

There really isn’t an organized Independent Party in Chilton County, but who knows what will happen in the next two to four years? If the voters’ opinions matter, we might just see additional people qualifying to run as independents in elections to come.

If additional independents run in the case of the county commission election, we will have candidates from three different parties seeking seven votes from each of the county’s 22,000-plus voters for seven commission seats. That could get complicated.

– Mike Kelley is the publisher of The Clanton Advertiser. His column appears on Sundays. He can be reached at mike.kelley@clantonadvertiser.com.