Women Mayors from North America
> Heir to Levi Strauss defeats San Francisco's female mayor
> There is still no first prize for American women
> Mexico City's new women mayor Clara Brugada
> American women in municipal government
Daniel Lurie, heir to the the Levi Strauss fortune, defeats London Breed, San Francisco's first black women mayor
Heir to Levi Strauss fortune defeats San Francisco’s first black female mayor
November 2024: London Breed, San Francisco’s first black woman mayor, conceded the race for mayor to Daniel Lurie following the 5 November election. In her concession speech, she pledged a smooth transition and promised to continue to work for the city in her remaining two months in office.
Daniel Lurie, a fellow Democrat of the defeated mayor, is an heir to the Levi Strauss jeans company fortune. Some 19 years ago, he founded the ‘Tipping Point Community, ’ a charitable organisation committed to combating homelessness. The mayor-elect defeated London Breed in the 14th round of ranked-choice voting. He won by a wide margin, 56 per cent to 44 per cent.
In a post on Elon Musk’s X social media platform (formerly Twitter), London Breed wrote that being Mayor of San Francisco had been the greatest honour of her lifetime. “I’m beyond grateful to our residents for the opportunity to serve the City that raised me. When I first took office in the middle of the night back in 2017, when Mayor Ed Lee passed, I didn’t know what lay ahead. But I answered the call and always gave San Francisco and its people my heart and soul."
Daniel Lurie entered the mayoral race last year with little name recognition, but after spending more than $8 million of his money on his campaign, he saw his support surge in the final weeks before the election. The incoming mayor has never held elected office, but that became a cornerstone of his campaign: He styled himself as an incorruptible “outsider” whose experience with his anti-poverty non-profit, Tipping Point Community, equipped him with the skills necessary to address the most salient issues facing the city, including crime, homelessness, an affordability crisis and a languishing downtown.
While San Francisco’s streets have been cleaner and homeless tents much harder to find in recent months, Breed’s fellow Democratic challengers on the campaign trail repeatedly hammered her administration for doing too little, too late, as homeless tent encampments, open-air drug use and brazen retail theft proliferated during her six years in office. “London Breed didn’t create the crime and homelessness crises, but voters blamed her for not fixing them,” political analyst Dan Schnur said.
There is still no first prize for American women *
November 2024: Once again, a woman has reached the highest office in American politics and has come close to breaking that barrier, but ultimately was not elected.
Kamala Harris’ candidacy exemplified a good deal of what our research tells us about women’s advantages as candidates and officeholders. She was a formidable fundraiser. She connected with voters on issues important to her and to them. Her identity provided her with unique perspectives on overlooked issues.
Unfortunately, this contest also exemplified research on the obstacles women face when running for office, chief among them the unequal expectations placed upon women, and women of colour in particular, who run for office.
The day will come when America elects a woman president. In the meantime, we continue to celebrate the progress that has carried us to this moment. Women are serving as mayors, state legislators, governors, representatives, senators, the highest leaders in legislative chambers, both state and national, and, of course, the vice president of the United States. They have held every political office in America except one.
But we must also acknowledge all else that remains undone. Women still hold fewer than a third of all political seats at every office level. We have made great strides, but many steps are left on the path to parity.
The work continues.
* Statement on the US presidential election from The Center for American Women and Politics
Black women mayors from ‘must-win swing state’ Pennsylvania endorse Kamala Harris
October 2024: Five black female mayors from Pennsylvania were joined by five black male colleagues to urge their constituents to support Kamala Harris in the US presidential elections on 5 November 2024. In a joint statement*, the mayors said that they were tired of murmurs that African Americans, particularly men, may want to vote for Donald Trump. Kayla Portis, Sharpsburg’s first Black woman mayor, issued a passionate plea to Black Americans to stand up and be counted. “We are fighting for our lives,” she said. “Not only our lives, but our children’s lives, for future generations.” “You need to speak with your families, friends and colleagues and remind them what is at stake for African Americans, both men and women.”
Kendy Alvarez, Mayor of Lewisburg, reminded voters in Pennsylvania what democracy can achieve for Black people. The town of 5,000 people had never had a mayor of colour until she was elected in 2022. Lewisburg is ultra-White, and African Americans represent just two per cent of the population. Her election showed that democracy is colour-blind. The mayor now wants to spread the message across Pennsylvania’s rural communities.
Mayor Alvarez is supported by another Black female mayor. Jaime Kinder of Meadville, another town with a predominantly White population, said her fellow citizens don’t care about their neighbours’ skin colour. “It only becomes an issue when politicians come to town to make up differences for political purposes,” she said.
Pennsylvania is the most fought-over ‘swing state’. In 2016, the state was won by Donald Trump by a mere 0.7 percentage points. In 2020, Joe Biden recaptured Pennsylvania for the Democrats by 1.2 percentage points. The latest polls (30 Octover) for the state show that Harris and Trump are both tied on 49 per cent of the voters questioned.
*The statement was signed by Cletus Lee, Mayor of North Braddock; Jaime Kinder, Mayor of Meadville; Kenya Johns, Mayor of Beaver Hills, Dontae Comans, Mayor of Wilkinsburg; Ed Gainey, Mayor of Pittsburgh; Kayla Portis, Mayor of Sharpsburg; Dwan Walker, Mayor of Aliquippa; Delia Lennon-Winstead, Mayor of Braddock; Keith Jackson, Mayor of Rochester; Kendy Alvarez, Mayor of Lewisburg.
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Public safety concerns threaten the re-election hopes of San Francisco’s female mayor.
October 2024: When London Breed won the mayoral election in San Francisco in July 2018, she was hailed as a product of the Californian dream. Her election proved, according to her supporters, that it was possible in progressive, equitable San Francisco for a woman of colour from a poor background to rise to one of the most influential positions in California. She is now running for re-election on 5 November, and her success is by no means assured. The mayor is accused of having wasted her six years in office.
Some 18 months after taking office, the Covid pandemic spread across the US and turned life in America's coolest city upside down. Stores closed, tech workers worked from home, tent encampments appeared all over the city, and public drug use became a common sight. Within months of the arrival of Covid, commentators described the once-booming city as a failed community. Even supporters of the Mayor said she allowed San Francisco to descend into chaos and blamed others for her inability to rein in homelessness and nuisance street behaviour. At the same time, businesses suffered from a lack of customers and criminal activities.
According to the Associated Press (AP), four other Democrats are the Mayor’s closest competitors on election day. Mark Farrell, a former interim mayor and venture capitalist who is the most conservative of the group; Daniel Lurie, an anti-poverty non-profit founder and an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who has pumped at least US$6 million of his own money into his first bid for mayor. The other two are Aaron Peskin, president of the Board of Supervisors, the most liberal candidate, and Ahsha Safaí, a city supervisor and former labour organiser.
David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University, who has closely followed Mayor Breed’s time in office, still thinks the incumbent Mayor is the favourite to win but points out that with voters’ concern about public safety, the candidate with the most persuasive anti-crime policies will attract strong support.
In an interview, London Breed stressed a record of crime fighting and public safety. She said she had championed a pair of successful public safety ballot measures in the March primary to expand police powers and compel some people into drug treatment. She ordered a crackdown on homeless tent encampments following a US Supreme Court decision that said bans on outdoor sleeping are allowed. “Reported crime is down>,” the Mayor told journalists.
Mark Farrell, a fellow candidate for mayor disagreed with London Breed. “The Mayor failed to maintain the streets I had cleared of tents when I was interim mayor in 2018 following the death of Mayor Ed Lee,” he said. Farrell envisions a San Francisco where police feel respected and older residents don’t have to hire private security when the city has a $15 billion annual budget.
San Francisco elects its mayor using a ranked-choice voting system that could yield a winner who did not get the most first-place votes. It also can encourage unusual alliances between rival candidates, and, indeed, this week, Farrell and Safaí agreed to ask their supporters to make the other their number two pick. Breed won the election as mayor in June 2018 to serve out the remainder of Lee’s term and was re-elected in 2019 to a full term that has lasted five years instead of the typical four after voters changed the election calendar to line up with presidential contests.
Mexico City will continue to be governed by a woman mayor
October 2024: Following Sheinbaum's move to the presidency, Clara Brugada Molina will take over the mayorship of the city. The office is the second most important political position in Mexico and is often the stepping stone to a future presidency. Claudia Sheinbaum was mayor of Mexico City from 2018 to 2024, and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the outgoing president, governed Mexico City from 2000 to 2006.
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Clara Brugada grew up in Mexico City, but when she was 15, her father died, and the family moved to the poor southern state of Chiapas. In the past, she has often said she was profoundly moved by the inequality there and decided to study economics. As a student at the Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City, she volunteered at a school in the marginalised neighbourhood of San Miguel Teotongo and decided to move there. FURTHER READING
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Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass receives the Olympic flag from her Paris opposite number
August 2024: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass returned to Los Angeles with the official Olympic Flag after she made history by becoming the first Black woman mayor to ever receive the Olympic flag at a closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. During the ceremony, Mayor Bass received the flag as part of the handover ceremony from Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is the first woman to serve as Mayor of Paris. Team USA gymnast Simone Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, joined Mayor Bass in receiving the flag during the historic moment. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Mayor told journalists that her top priority for the 2028 Games was to ensure Angelenos benefited from the preparation and hosting of this major event, both now and for decades.
“The Olympic Games have officially come back to Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “We have been working with the urgency that is required to put on an international event, and we are focused on all the ways we can match Paris’ success in Los Angeles. My goals for the Games are big, and I want to ensure Angelenos from all corners of the city have the opportunity to show the world all of our communities, that we will grow small and local businesses, and that we will invest in the transportation improvements necessary to leave a lasting legacy in our city for generations to come. Forty years ago, Mayor Bradley hosted a Games that continue to benefit Los Angeles – I will be sure to do the same. Congratulations to the City of Paris, Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Paris 2024 for an outstanding Olympic Games. We look forward to seeing a transformative Paralympic Games in Paris in just a few weeks.”
The Olympic flag – one of the most recognizable symbols of the Olympic Games – was created for the Olympic Jubilee Congress in 1914 in Paris in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Olympic Movement. The interlocking rings were first drawn by Pierre de Coubertin – the founder of the modern Olympic Games – on a letter in July 1913. The Olympic symbol representing the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games has gone on to become one of the most recognised symbols in the world and the symbolic passing of the Olympic flag from one host city to another has become a key tradition at the closing of the Games.
During her trip to Paris for the Olympic closing ceremony, Mayor Bass visited cities and communities outside of the Paris city centre to observe how they are engaging the local community and benefiting from the Games. Additionally, Mayor Bass visited the Paris Media Centre, the Athlete’s Village and sporting event venues to examine effective logistics and communication output to recreate effective operations in Los Angeles.
Women in Colorado, Nevada and Oregon are close to achieving parity with men in municipal government
July 2024: Coloradan women in municipal government have almost reached parity with men. The Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers ranked Colorado first regarding the share of women who serve in municipal government, at 46 per cent. Other states where women make up more than 40 per cent of elected local government officials include Nevada, Oregon and Arizona. In contrast, in Mississippi and Nebraska, less than 20 per cent of local government councillors are women.
Of the 13 council members of Colorado’s capital city Denver, nine are women. Among the nine council members of Colorado Springs, the state’s second-largest city, four are women. Aurora, with a population of just 400,000, has a city council consisting of six men and four women.
Federal Heights, a Coloradan city of some 14,000 people, has an all-female city council. Even the mayor of the city is female. Mayor Linda Montoya, who was re-elected in 2023, said the all-female city council worked more efficiently. “Past council meetings took much longer. Now we just go in there and get the job done.” She also said her leadership style was less combative than those of previous mayors. Full analysis
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A woman mayor is the latest victim of Mexico’s deadly gang violence
June 2024: Only one day after Mexico celebrated the election of Claudia Sheinbaum as the country’s first female president, a newly re-elected woman mayor was brutally killed in the southwestern state of Michoacan. Yolanda Sánchez Figueroa, who had been mayor of the municipality of Cotija since 2021, was gunned down along with her bodyguard as they left a local gym. According to local media reports, the mayor was shot dead from an SUV-type vehicle by gunmen in broad daylight. Police said 19 bullets hit the mayor and her bodyguard. Full story
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Alaska’s largest city elects its first woman mayor
May 2024: Alaska’s largest city has elected its first woman mayor. While the final results will not be announced until 31 May 2024, Suzanne LaFrance has already amassed an unsurmountable lead over her opponent, Anchorage’s incumbent mayor Dave Bronson. Although Mayor Bronson has not yet conceited defeat, the Anchorage Daily News has called the election for his challenger.
The runoff election follows a crowded mayoral race. LaFrance and Bronson emerged as the top two candidates in a 10-person competition for mayor. LaFrance led in the regular April election by less than 500 votes.
The election caps a years-long divide between LaFrance and Bronson, beginning when Bronson was elected mayor in 2021. For two years of Bronson’s term, LaFrance served as Anchorage’s assembly chair. As chair and during her campaign, Suzanne LaFrance avoided divisive rhetoric and politicising administrative failures. Still, she often sided with the left-of-centre majority of Assembly members in discussions over Covid- health mandates, homelessness and general budgeting.
Bronson, a registered Republican, has campaigned on being a conservative counter to what he’s described as a ‘woke leftist’ assembly, with many campaign signs sporting the message ‘Bronson = balance’.
Bronson and his campaign leaned into their political differences. “I’m normal. She’s woke,” he said at a candidate debate in April. The mayor later explained that to him, wokeness is an unhealthy political ideology of the far left. LaFrance’s campaign emphasised that most local issues are apolitical. Snow removal, potholes, housing costs and homelessness were among the most common local issues that residents across the city raised leading into the runoff.
In the interview, LaFrance revealed that her decision to run for mayor was not originally part of her career trajectory. She recounted how her initial foray into public service began with a bid for the Anchorage Assembly in 2017, spurred on by encouragement from friends and family: “My brother said, ‘You should run, you’re going to get to meet the community and meet lots of cool people.’” She ended up winning.
However, it was her first-hand experience as assembly chair during the current administration that solidified her resolve to seek the mayoral seat, especially in response to her disagreements with Mayor Bronson: “I had an up-close view of how damaging it is when someone comes in and tries to make everything about partisan politics and what a disruption that is and how it makes it hard for people to work together and solve problems.”
Alaska’s two principal cities will now have women mayors. In Juneau, the state capital, Beth Weldon has been mayor since 2018. She has already said that she is looking forward to working with Anchorage’s incoming mayor.
Further reading: US women mayors
Sources: Alaska Public Media, Anchorage Daily News
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Fort Wayne, Indiana, elects Black Woman Mayor
April 2024: Fort Wayne Councilwoman Sharon Tucker has made history after becoming Indiana’s second-largest city’s (Population 268,000) new mayor. She becomes Fort Wayne’s first Black mayor and second woman to hold the position. She was selected during a Democratic caucus to replace the late Mayor Tom Henry, who died in March. Sharon Tucker, a Democrat, secured her win in the second round of voting during the Democratic caucus, meeting the requirement of 50 per cent of the votes plus one.
Seven candidates, including Indiana Democratic House leader and state Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, ran in the party caucus. A total of 92 precinct committee members cast votes to determine the successor to Henry, who died at the age of 72 after battling stomach cancer. The new mayor will serve the remainder of Henry’s term, which runs through 31 December 2027.
A graduate of Indiana Tech, Sharon Tucker holds two Bachelor of Science degrees in Management and Human Resources. She has a community and civic engagement history, having served as the Treasurer for the Allen County Democratic Party for five years and as Vice Chair in 2016.
Sharon Tucker was elected 1st District Councilwoman on the Allen County Council in 2014 and re-elected to a second term in 2018. She later won the 6th District City Council seat in 2019, becoming the first African American woman to hold that position.
In addition to her political roles, Sharon Tucker has been involved in various community organizations. She is a Zeta Phi Beta Sorority member, AVOW (Advancing Voices of Women), and the NAACP. Sharon Tucker also volunteers on the Board of Directors for the Allen County Public Library, Alliance Health Clinic, and SEED.
In 2012, Sharon Tucker founded the ’Women in Politics Forum,’ an annual event focusing on empowering, engaging, and educating women on political involvement. According to her official council bio, she has mentored several local female political candidates and advocated for women’s political representation.
News sources: The Journal Gazette, City of Fort Wayne
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Black women mayors: Campaigning and governing in America
March 2024: Political Black Girl Magic* explores black women’s experiences as mayors in American cities. Sharon Wright Austin, the book's editor, and some 20 additional contributors to this comprehensive volume examine American Black female mayoral campaigns and elections where race and gender were a factor and where deracialised campaigns garnered candidate support from white as well as Hispanic and Asian American voters.
The book also explores how Black women mayors govern. The publication’s contributors review the mayors’ pursuit of economic growth and how they use their power to enact reforms. Great attention is paid to the challenges Black women mayors face particularly in their pursuit to cater to neglected communities.
Case studies in this interdisciplinary publication include female mayors in Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Chicago, Compton, and Washington DC, among other cities. Covering mayors from the 1970s to the present, Political Black Girl Magic identifies the most significant obstacles black women have faced as mayors and mayoral candidates and seeks to understand how race, gender or the combination of both affected them.
REVIEWS
By Marcia Chatelain, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author
“An impressive, well-researched, and thorough look at the complex leadership of Black women mayors. The editor and contributors explore the impact of race and gender in the elections, administrative styles, and media coverage about Black women in positions of power and offer provocative questions and answers about the nature of politics in the United States. With a depth and scope that recognises the distinct features of region and location, Political Black Girl Magic is essential reading for anyone interested in leadership and racial justice.”
By Keneshia N. Grant, Associate Professor of Political Science at Howard University
“Sharon Wright Austin has assembled a dynamic team of mostly women scholars to cover an important yet understudied topic: Black women in American state and local government and politics. Thick with carefully detailed demographic data and individual case studies of Black women’s campaigns and governance, Political Black Girl Magic takes readers from the election of the first Black woman mayor through to the politics of today. This book is an outstanding and significant contribution to the discipline.”
By Ethnic and Racial Studies
"The book answers the call for research on Black female mayors in an admirably detailed, comprehensive, and instructive fashion.... The book should serve as a valuable sourcebook for future research on this vital topic."
*Political Black Girl Magic is published by Temple University Press and available from online and high street booksellers. (ISBN 1439920273)
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Further reading: US Women Mayors
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On other news pages: Women mayors for Kamala Harris | North American women mayors | South American women mayors | European women mayors | Mayors from the Middle East | Asian women mayors | Australasia women mayors | African women Mayors |
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