John Evans Dailey (born December 7, 1972) is an American politician from the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He is the mayor of

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

, serving since November 19, 2018. Dailey previously served for twelve years on the Leon County Board of County Commissioners, representing northwestern

Leon County, FL Leon County is a county in the Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 census, the population was 292,198. The county seat is Tallahassee, which is also the state capi ...

from 2006 to 2018.

Early life and education

Dailey was born in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

, a

Master of Public Administration The Master of Public Administration (M.P.Adm., M.P.A., or MPA) is a specialized higher professional post graduate degree in public administration, similar/ equivalent to the Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the issues of ...

from the

Reubin O'D Askew School of Public Administration and Policy Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. During his time at LSE, he served as an aide to

Roger Casale Roger Mark Casale (born 22 May 1960) is a former Labour Party (UK), Labour Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Wimbledon (UK Parliament constituency), Wimbledon, having represented the seat from 1997 to 2005. In June ...

, a

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Career

Elections

On September 5, 2006, Dailey was elected to the Leon County Board of County Commissioners for the third district. He served on the Leon County Commission for three terms, during which he served as chairman of the board twice (2010–2011 and 2016–2017). On November 6, 2018, he defeated his challenger Dustin Daniels in a second-round runoff of the

2018 Tallahassee mayoral election The 2018 Tallahassee mayoral election took place on August 28 and November 6, 2018, to elect the Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida. Incumbent mayor Andrew Gillum decided to focus his campaign on the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election instead of se ...

with 51.47% of the vote to 48.53%. During John Dailey's re-election campaign in the 2022 mayoral race, he accepted approximately $20,000 in campaign contributions from Seminole Booster and FSU related entities weeks before a critical vote awarding $20 million dollars in public funds for stadium improvements. On August 3, 2022, Dailey filed an elections complaint to the

Florida Elections Commission The Florida Election Commission (FEC) is an organisation set up in 1973 to enforce campaign finance laws in the United States' state of Florida. "The commission is composed of nine members appointed by the governor A governor is an administrat ...

against his opponent, Kristin Dozier, accusing of her mayoral campaign being driven by

dark money In the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections where the source of the money is not disclosed to voters. In the United States, some types of nonprofit organizations may spend money on campaigns wi ...

. From there, Dailey pledged to "hold every candidate accountable to follow the law". Dailey was re-elected in November 2022, defeating his General Election opponent Kristin Dozier by 6 points, 53.16% to 46.84%

Mayor of Tallahassee (2018–present)

On November 19, 2018, Dailey succeeded

Andrew Gillum Andrew Demetric Gillum (born July 26, 1979) is an American former politician who served as the 126th mayor of Tallahassee from 2014 to 2018. He served as a Tallahassee city commissioner from 2003 until 2014, first elected at the age of 23. He i ...

as the

mayor of Tallahassee The Mayor of Tallahassee is head of the executive branch of the government of Tallahassee, Florida. For part of the city's history the office of mayor was a rotating position chosen among city commissioners. Tallahassee switched to the direct e ...

after assuming office, where he outlined in writing "a next chapter for the city of Tallahassee." During his first term as mayor, Dailey in early 2021 made

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ar ...

a paid holiday for Tallahassee city employees, claiming the use of

voter suppression Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting ...

in other states in which he insisted the move as chance for Tallahassee "to lead an effort to expand rights". He expanded the city's paid parental leave policy to include six weeks of paid parental leave to all new parents following the birth or adoption of a child. Dailey formed a Citizens Police Review Board and mobile app that allows citizens to record interactions with law enforcement. He also spearheaded the development of a mental health mobile response unit to create an alternative to police response to mental health emergencies.

Personal life

Raised in Tallahassee, Dailey is the son of Sarah Ann Dailey, a schoolteacher, and the late Dr. J. Scott Dailey, a was a two-term member of the Leon County School Board. Dailey lives in

, with his wife, Virginia Dailey. They have two sons.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dailey, John E. 1972 births Florida Democrats Florida State University alumni Living people Mayors of Tallahassee, Florida