Bradley G. Hart is an American attorney and politician who served as the mayor of

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

from 2018 to 2022. As the role of mayor is a part-time position, Hart continued to work as a business lawyer at Bradley & Riley during his term.

Education

Hart earned his bachelor's degree from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

, followed by a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of ...

(then known as the "Houston College of Law").

Career

After graduating from law school, Hart began his career in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

before relocating to

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

to work at Bradley & Riley, where he specializes in corporate mergers and business law. In the November 2017 Mayoral election, Hart competed against city councilor,

Monica Vernon Monica Vernon (born October 19, 1957) is an American politician. She is a former two-term member of the Cedar Rapids City Council and the former Mayor Pro Tempore of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Vernon was elected to the Cedar Rapids City Council in 2007 ...

. As neither candidate earned more than 50 percent of votes cast in the general election, both continued on to a runoff held in December 2017. In the runoff, Hart earned 54.3 percent of votes to Vernon's 45.6 percent. In February 2019, Hart appeared on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

to discuss recovery from the Iowa flood of 2008 and the growing infrastructure crisis in

. Hart later met with President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

to lobby for flood protection. Hart sought reelection to a second term as mayor in 2021. However, in November 2021, he failed to advance to the run-off, finishing only 41 votes behind second-place challenger Amara Andrews. In the subsequent runoff election, Hart endorsed fellow Republican Tiffany O'Donnell. The runoff election was held on November 30, 2021, with O'Donnell overwhelmingly defeating Andrews.

References

Living people Mayors of Cedar Rapids, Iowa Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Iowa Republicans Iowa lawyers Iowa State University alumni South Texas College of Law alumni {{Iowa-mayor-stub