Jan Jones Blackhurst (born Janis Lyle Laverty, later Jan Laverty Jones; March 16, 1949) is an American

businesswoman A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She was mayor of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

from 1991 to 1999 and the first woman to serve as mayor of Las Vegas. Jones Blackhurst is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Biography

Early life

Jones Blackhurst was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, raised in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, and graduated from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1971. She became a recognized figure in Las Vegas in the 1980s, appearing as a spokeswoman in

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

commercials for her family's supermarket chain, Thriftimart, and later a car dealership owned by her then-husband, Fletcher Jones Jr.

Politics

In 1990, Jones Blackhurst (known then as Jan Jones) ran for mayor of the City of Las Vegas; she was elected in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and later re-elected in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, serving two four-year terms. During her time in office, Las Vegas' population grew significantly; Jones Blackhurst was credited for making the city "more livable" and directing attention towards social issues such as

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...

. While mayor of Las Vegas, Jones Blackhurst ran for Nevada governor twice, losing significantly in the 1994 Democratic primary to then-incumbent Bob Miller, and, after gaining the Democratic nomination in 1998, being defeated in the general election in 1998 by

Kenny Guinn Kenneth Carroll Guinn (August 24, 1936 – July 22, 2010), was an American academic administrator, businessman and politician who served as the 27th Governor of Nevada from 1999 to 2007 and interim president of the University of Nevada, Las Vega ...

, the Republican nominee. In 1999, she chose not to run for a third term as mayor.

Post-politics

After leaving the office of mayor, Jones Blackhurst worked for

Caesars Entertainment Caesars Entertainment, Inc., formerly Eldorado Resorts, Inc., is an American hotel and casino entertainment company founded and based in Reno, Nevada that operates more than 50 properties. Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment Corpora ...

, later serving as Executive Vice President. As of July 2021, Jones Blackhurst sits on the board of directors of several organizations: Caesars Entertainment, Inc., the

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is a government agency and the official destination marketing organization for Southern Nevada. It was founded by the Nevada Legislature in 1955. The LVCVA owns and operates the Las Vegas ...

, Sunrise Hospital, and the Las Vegas Stadium Authority, which owns

Allegiant Stadium Allegiant Stadium is a domed stadium located in Paradise, Nevada. It is the home stadium for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Rebels college football team, the Las Ve ...

. She is also CEO-in-residence at the International Gaming Institute at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

Personal life

Jones Blackhurst is currently married to Dana Blackhurst, her second husband. They married in 2003, and Jones Blackhurst legally added the "Blackhurst" part of her surname in 2013. Jones Blackhurst has had six children. Dana Blackhurst is an education advocate for learning disabilities who has headed several schools over the years, including Camperdown Academy (

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

), Pine Ridge School (

Williston, Vermont Williston is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Originally rural and laid out with many farms, in recent decades it has developed into a thriving suburb of Burlington, the largest city in the state of Vermont. As of the 2020 c ...

) and The Chandler School (also Greenville, South Carolina), which he founded. They live near the Red Rock Country Club in western Las Vegas.

Honors

In 2017, the

Clark County School District The Clark County School District (CCSD) is a school district that serves all of Clark County, Nevada, including the cities of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and Boulder City; as well as the census-designated places of Laughlin, Blue D ...

named a Las Vegas elementary school after Jones Blackhurst.

External links

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jan Laverty 1949 births Activists from California Harrah's Entertainment Living people Mayors of Las Vegas Nevada Democrats Politicians from Las Vegas Stanford University alumni United States Chamber of Commerce people Women in Nevada politics Women mayors of places in Nevada 21st-century American women