Tiffany Henyard: From Dolton ‘Super Mayor’ and FBI Target to a Georgia Republican Ballot in Fulton County

Tiffany Henyard called herself the super mayor of Dolton, Illinois, and ran Thornton Township on the side. In spring 2024 FBI agents walked into township hall and handed her two subpoenas — one personal, one for the township — covering bank records, cash payments, a restaurant, an estate company, a political committee, and a foundation with her name on it. Former agent Ross Rice looked at the sweep and said the breadth meant they were serious. She was the target.

Trustees had already voted to investigate her spending. She vetoed it. They hired Lori Lightfoot anyway and invited the FBI in. Lightfoot’s 2025 report put 2023 credit-card spending above $775,000, including more than $200,000 on Amazon and over $117,000 on travel. An ice rink on village cards ran about $48,000 with no bid. On February 25, 2025, trustee Jason House beat her with about 88 percent in the Democratic mayoral primary. She left her remaining offices in 2025. The federal file was still open. She has not been charged.

Project Phoenix, a Tiny Primary, a November Date

Henyard moved to Georgia, left the Democratic Party, and filed in March 2026 as a Republican for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 5. After a residency challenge, the elections board voted 3-1 on April 20, 2026, to keep her on the ballot. On May 19 she ran unopposed and took 1,140 votes. Emory’s Andra Gillespie told WGN that tally was a warning, not a coronation. She faces Democrat Helen Willis on November 3, 2026, in a heavily Democratic district. On March 26, 2026, her father Ronald Henyard, 65, was shot in the neck on Chicago’s West Side; an 18-year-old was charged with attempted murder.

For local-power stories that end in federal paper, see The AEGIS Alliance’s Crime News and Politics desks, and the older Lee County files on Sheriff Mike Scott.