John Tyler Hammons could have spent his first year of college playing around on Facebook, like everybody else. Instead, he decided to run for office.

On Tuesday, Mr. Hammons, a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, was elected mayor of Muskogee, a city of 38,000 in the northeastern part of the state. Mr. Hammons, 19, won 70 percent of the vote over his opponent, according to the Associated Press.

“The public placing their trust in me is the greatest, humbling, and most awesome experience I’ve ever had in my life,” said Mr. Hammons, a native of Muskogee.

A student’s winning election as mayor is not unprecedented in recent years. But alas, the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, may not get to brag about him for long: Mr. Hammons said he expected to transfer to a college closer to Muskogee. —Eric Hoover