Tupelo Mayor Engagement

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) – Tupelo’s mayor is engaged to a beauty queen and medical student.

Mayor Jason Shelton’s romance with former Miss Mississippi Chelsea Rick began when he tweeted a message asking residents of Tupelo and North Mississippi to support the student of osteopathic medicine in the 2013 Miss Mississippi competition.

She tells the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that after winning, she met with Shelton to talk about ways to give back to the area. She says he really listened to what she wanted to do. In her words, “He didn’t treat me like just another pageant girl.”

They kept in touch on a professional basis for about six months.

Rick says she knew before their first kiss that he was the man for her.