Commissioner and wife have found a bigger house in the county for family with four young children
Henderson City Commissioner Nick Whitt resigned from his seat at Tuesday’s commission meeting, effective on June 30.
Whitt and his family will move to a residence in the Thorn Ridge neighborhood off of U.S. 60, which is a county address that leaves him ineligible to serve as a city commissioner. He will also be ineligible to continue in the November general election.
In comments at the end of the meeting, he called the moment a “bittersweet day” and explained that he and his wife have four young children and the house they’re moving to is “pretty much perfect.”
“The time is right for us to find more room for our family,” Whitt said.
He also went on to praise city employees, saying they do most of the heavy lifting for the city.
“Every city employee has gone above and beyond,” he said, adding they were “always quick to respond” to issues brought before them.
He also said that city government decisions can be argued all day, but he was proud of the commission for its approach to handling city business like adults. He also encouraged people to remember that local elected officials have families and a life outside government.
Whitt said making it personal is not something “we should stoop to.”
He also thanked his family for their support.
“I couldn’t do it without their support,” he said.
Fellow commissioners offered Whitt kudos for his service.
“Nick, it’s been an honor to serve with you,” Robert Pruitt said.
“You were always well-prepared on any issue that came up,” Rodney Thomas said. “I’m going to miss you, man.”
Whitt has been a member of the Henderson City Commission since 2023 and has garnered praise for his effective communication on social media outlets, answering citizen questions and explaining commission decisions.
Now, the next order of business for the city commission will be to replace him. Whitt himself first got a seat on the commission from an appointment. In the November 2022 general election, he placed fifth. But after it was learned that fourth-place finisher Jay Randolph was living in the county, Randolph resigned before his term began. Whitt was appointed to Randolph’s vacated seat and has won a spot in every election since.
His appointment was in place until the next general election, when Whitt squared off against challenger Dwight Williams in November 2023 to complete the final year of Randolph’s vacated term. Whitt won that face-to-face showdown with Williams by more than 400 votes—3,131 to 2,719.
The next year, in the November 2024 general election, Whitt again won a seat with a fourth-place finish.
And in May’s city commission primary, Whitt finished second behind fellow commissioner Kelsey Hargis, setting himself up for what seemed certain to be another term starting in January.
That race had included 10 candidates, and after the primary, two were eliminated, leaving Whitt and seven others to vie for the top four in November. Now with Whitt gone, though, the November ballot will include the top seven finishers.
Carrie Smith, the deputy clerk in charge of elections at the Henderson County Clerk’s Office, said the ninth-place finisher can’t by law be added to the ballot and the ballot will have seven candidates.
And it provides certainty that the Henderson City Commission in the next term will feature at least two new faces—and maybe more.
Hargis and Pruitt finished first and third, respectively, in the primary, and from appearances, it seems both are almost a certainty to be re-elected in the fall. However, nothing is certain in the current state of Henderson politics, and with the 1,875 votes Whitt garnered in the primary now open for the taking, it will be interesting to see who those votes go to in the general election and if it causes any shuffle.
More urgent than that, though, is the replacement for Whitt. When Whitt was appointed to take Randolph’s seat, he was the next place finisher after Randolph in the 2022 general election. The candidate who finished fifth in the last general election, in November 2024, was Tom Williams, who is also on the November general election ballot.
Henderson Mayor Brad Staton said for him personally that doesn’t set a precedent and those examples are not apples to apples. Whitt’s appointment came weeks after the November 2022 general election. At this time, it’s been more than 1 1/2 years since the November 2024 general election.
Staton also said if there were any precedent, it would be to take the fourth-place finisher in the May 19 primary. That was Chris Thomas. But Staton said he’s not sure if appointing someone in the running for the city commission would be the right decision, either.
At Tuesday’s city commission meeting, Staton told the commissioners to be thinking of people they’d like as a replacement. He said the commission will retire to an executive session at either a July 21 or a July 28 meeting and make the decision then.
By state statute, the city commission has 30 days from Whitt’s final day to make an appointment, Staton said.
