Outside political circles, Natchez voters have mixed interests in Tuesday’s mayoral race.

&uot;I went to the forum at the Ramada and at The Burn,&uot; downtown business owner Edward Killelea said. &uot;Natchez needs to get behind them. It’s the future.&uot;

Killelea’s wife Kathryn McCabe Killelea said she had talked about the race a lot at home and with friends.

&uot;I’m just trying to get to know them,&uot; she said. &uot;It is an intense election with a woman, a black man and a foreigner; it is great to have. There usually isn’t that array of people that are running.&uot;

Most voters said it was up to the new mayor to do something about the economic situation.

&uot;It’s really important to Natchez,&uot; said Cherilyn Thomas.

Thomas said she cares about this election because &uot;we need some jobs here.&uot;

&uot;I hope somebody gets in there and does the job,&uot; she said. &uot;It’s time for a change in Natchez.&uot;

Adrell Wright agreed; she wants to see a change too.

The community is suffering, Wright said, with jobs moving out of town and a lack of something for the youth in the community to do.

Wright said she is very interested in this election because she can support a candidate &uot;because of what they are trying to do for this community.&uot;

Teri Edwards, mother of two teenagers, said she does not really have time to devote to closely following the election.

&uot;Whenever I’m at home I watch the TV and radio ads,&uot; she said. &uot;Hopefully someone can work on bringing more jobs into town.&uot;

Brittany Christian, mother of three, said she had not been that interested in the race, but wanted to see change in Natchez. &uot;We need to do something about losing everything,&uot; Christian said. &uot;And bringing tourists, that’s very important.&uot;