Tishaura Jones
Tishaura Jones is the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, and one of two mayoral candidates to advance from the first approval-based primary election in Missouri (see "2021 St. Louis mayoral election") Jones is an American politician who has served as the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri since April 2021. A member of the Missouri Democratic Party, Jones served from 2008 to 2013 in the Missouri House of Representatives; and as Treasurer of the City of St. Louis from 2013 to 2021.[1]
Early life
Born in St. Louis to a former city comptroller, Jones studied at Hampton University in Virginia, returning to St. Louis upon graduating in 1994. Following a failed attempt to start a restaurant that left her bankrupt, she entered nursing, graduating from the Saint Louis University College for Public Health with a Master of Health Administration in 2001 and working for Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital for two years.
Political career
Jones entered politics in 2002, when she was appointed to the Democratic Party Central Committee for St. Louis's eighth ward. In 2008, she was elected to represent Missouri's 63rd District in the state legislature, defeating independent candidate Nels Williams with 85.4 percent of the vote. Jonse ran unopposed for re-election to the Missouri House in 2010,
2012 St. Louis Treasurer
Jones ran for St. Louis Treasurer in 2012, and won the general election with 77.9 percent of the vote. She was re-elected as treasurer in 2016 and 2020.
As treasurer, Jones was credited with using the office, which had been widely regarded as an unimportant and scandal-ridden bureaucratic position, to start new programs in the city.[2] These include a program that educates citizens on financial literacy, and a program that uses parking meter revenue to give public school kindergarten students a savings account to help them afford college education. Jones also received national attention for her responses to media criticism of her, most notably by St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board, which she has variously described as racist, sexist, and unfair.[3][4]
2017 St. Louis mayoral election
In the 2017 St. Louis mayoral election, Jones, a self-described progressive, lost a bid to become Mayor of St. Louis after being narrowly defeated in the city's Democratic primary by moderate[5] Lyda Krewson.
2021 St. Louis mayoral election
On November 4, 2020, after being elected treasurer for a third term, Jones announced she would once again campaign for the mayor's office. She won the election against St. Louis Alderwoman Cara Spencer on April 7, 2021, and was sworn in on April 20. She is the third African-American, the second woman, and the first African-American woman to hold the position.[6]
References
- ↑ admin (April 15, 2021). "Home". St. Louis Treasurers Office. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
St. Louis – April 15, 2021 – on the heels of a historic win for Mayor-Elect Tishaura O. Jones, The St. Louis City Treasurer’s Office is honored to announce the appointment of Adam L. Layne as the next Treasurer of St. Louis.
- ↑ "Power List 2012: 100 People Who Are Shaping St. Louis Today". St. Louis Magazine. December 21, 2012. Retrieved November 28, 2020.
- ↑ King, Chris (January 10, 2013). "New Treasurer making change". The St. Louis American. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ↑ Rivas, Rebecca S. (July 26, 2012). "Tishaura Jones responds to Post". The St. Louis American. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
- ↑ Benchaabane, Nassim (November 19, 2020). "'A new mayor will lead us forward': Krewson won't run for reelection". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
A self-described political moderate, Krewson faced fierce criticism from activists, progressives and Black officials who called for bolder leadership and were angry with her administration's response to protests after the 2017 acquittal of former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley.
- ↑