Charles Gregory Davis, known as Greg Davis (born February 22, 1966) is the former

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 a ...

of Southaven in northern

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, the state's fourth largest city, from 1997 to 2013. Prior to serving as mayor, he represented the 7th district in the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected fo ...

. He was the Republican Party's

nominee A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...

for

Mississippi's 1st congressional district Mississippi's 1st congressional district is in the northeast corner of the state. It includes much of the northern portion of the state including Columbus, Oxford, Southaven, Tupelo and West Point. One of the state's major universities, the Un ...

in the 2008 special and

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. In 2012, he was convicted on charges of

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

false pretense In criminal law, property is obtained by false pretenses when the acquisition results from the intentional misrepresentation of a past or existing fact. Elements The elements of false pretenses are: *a false representation *of a material p ...

, and making

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

ulent statements and was later sentenced, however his conviction was overturned in a 2017 retrial and found not guilty. Greg attended

Mitchell Hamline School of Law Mitchell Hamline School of Law is a private law school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and offers full- and part-time legal education for its Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree. History Mitchell Hamlin ...

where he received his Juris Doctor degree in December 2021. After passing the Mississippi Bar in February 2022, he was admitted to practice law in July 2022. He currently has a practice (Davis Law MS, PLLC) located in Hernando, MS.

Life and career

Davis was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He graduated from

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

at Starkville with a

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

. Upon graduation, he began a career in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and consulting. From 1991 to 1997, Davis served in the Mississippi House of Representatives with assignments to the Appropriations and Public Health committees. He was elected mayor of Southaven in 1997 and won a fourth term in 2009. On June 4, 2013, Davis lost his bid for a fifth term as mayor of Southaven and was succeeded by Darren Musselwhite, effective June 28, 2013.

Congressional elections, 2008

In 2008, he began a campaign to fill the seat of

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Roger Wicker Roger Frederick Wicker (born July 5, 1951) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Mississippi, in office since 2007. A member of the Republican Party, Wicker previously served as a member of the ...

, who had been appointed to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

following the resignation of

Trent Lott Chester Trent Lott Sr. (born October 9, 1941) is an American lawyer, author, and politician. A former United States Senator from Mississippi, Lott served in numerous leadership positions in both the United States House of Representatives and the ...

. The initial

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

was a three-candidate race which resulted in a primary

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

between Davis and former mayor

Glenn McCullough Glenn L. McCullough Jr. (born December 18, 1954, in Tupelo, Mississippi) is a Mississippi businessman, Republican Party politician, and economic development professional. He is currently the executive director of the Mississippi Development Author ...

Tupelo Tupelo , genus ''Nyssa'' , is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In ...

. Davis won the runoff and thus became the Republican candidate in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

. In the initial special election on April 22 for

, Davis paced second to Democrat

Travis Childers Travis Wayne Childers (born March 29, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2008 to 2011. The district included much of the northern portion of the state including New Albany, Columbus, Oxford, Southa ...

, but no candidate received a majority of the vote required to win the seat outright. Childers and Davis then faced each other in a May 13 runoff. Childers defeated Davis, 53.7 to 46.3 percent. Childers filled the seat until the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on November 4, 2008, corresponding with the Obama-McCain presidential contest. As the Republican nominee once more, Davis again faced Childers and again lost, 54 to 44 percent.

Expense abuse investigation

In December 2012, Davis was indicted on state charges of

, false pretense and making fraudulent statements. He was arrested and released on $3,500 bail. He was convicted and sentenced in July 2014 to serve 2 1/2 years in state prison and pay more than $17,000 to the city. In a 2017 retrial, Davis was found not guilty of all charges, overturning his previous conviction.

Personal life

Following an investigation by state auditors into questionable reimbursements, which included a purchase at Priape, a

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

shop specializing in

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

-interest merchandise, on December 15, 2011, Davis publicly acknowledged that he is gay, stating:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Greg 1966 births Living people American politicians convicted of fraud Gay politicians LGBT Baptists LGBT mayors of places in the United States LGBT state legislators in Mississippi LGBT people from Tennessee Mayors of places in Mississippi Republican Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Mississippi politicians convicted of crimes Mississippi State University alumni People from Southaven, Mississippi Politicians from Memphis, Tennessee Southern Baptists Baptists from Tennessee Baptists from Mississippi Candidates in the 2008 United States elections 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians

Life and career

Congressional elections, 2008

Expense abuse investigation

Personal life

See also

References