Dan Whitehurst (born 1948 in

Los Banos, California Los Banos ( ), alternatively Los Baños ( ), is a city in Merced County, California, United States. It is located in the San Joaquin Valley in central California, near the junction of State Route 152 and Interstate 5. Its population was 45,532 ...

), is a former California politician. Whitehurst started college at age 16 and law school at age 20. He practiced law briefly and then worked for a time at his father's funeral home before entering politics in 1975. He was

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

from 1977 to 1985.

Civic career

He was a Fresno city council member from 1975 to 1977 and was the mayor of that city from 1977 to 1985. Whitehurst took the oath of office at 28 years of age when he became mayor of Fresno, making him the youngest mayor of a major city in the U.S. and the youngest mayor in the history of Fresno. This beat the former youngest mayor of Fresno,

Gordon Dunn Gordon Glover "Slinger" Dunn (April 16, 1912 – July 26, 1964) was an American discus thrower who won a silver medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics, a U.S. Navy lieutenant, and former mayor of Fresno, California from 1949-1957. Godron Dunn was b ...

, by 8 years. In 1982, Whitehurst ran against

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of ...

for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate. He came in fourth place with 167,574 votes (6.10%). He did community activities like: * 1997-99 Chairman, Great Valley Center * 1993-94 Chairman, Fresno Metropolitan Projects Authority (Arts to Zoo Commission) * 1986–present Chairman, California Healthy Cities Steering Committee * 1986-87 Program Evaluator,

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Innovations in Government Program * 1985-88 Executive Session on Community Policing, Harvard University * Also served on various advisory committees for: Fresno State, Regional Medical Center, Central California Futures Institute, Boys and Girls Clubs, Fresno County Association for a UC Campus, Fresno Unified School District, Citizens for Community Enrichment (Arts to Zoo), Downtown Task Force (ULI Study) * 1977-85 Mayor of Fresno * 1975-77 Fresno City Council * Board Member, National League of Cities; Chair, Public Safety Committee, U.S. Conference of Mayors; President, Mayors and Councilmembers Department,

League of California Cities The League of California Cities is an association of cities within the state of California, founded in 1898. Most of the state's 482 cities are represented in the league. The League publishes ''Western City'', a monthly magazine, and holds an annu ...

After his tenure as mayor, Whitehurst practiced law and did other business over the years. He ran for Mayor of Fresno again in 2000 but lost to Republican

Alan Autry Carlos Alan Autry Jr. (also known for a time as Carlos Brown; born July 31, 1952), is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League player. During his brief football career, he was known as Carlos Brown. He played the ro ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehurst, Dan 1948 births Living people Mayors of Fresno, California California city council members California Democrats California lawyers People from Los Banos, California Saint Mary's College of California alumni University of California College of the Law, San Francisco alumni