Lelia Foley (born November 7, 1942) was the first African American woman elected mayor in the United States.

Biography

In January 1973, Foley, a divorced mother of five, surviving on welfare, ran for a spot on the school board of

Taft, Oklahoma Taft is a town in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 250 at the 2010 census, a decline of 28.4 percent from the figure of 349 recorded in 2000. The town began as an all-black town on land allotted to Creek Freedmen. It is ...

, an all-black town of 600 people. She lost the election, but shortly thereafter she became inspired by a book on the successful election of A. J. Cooper as mayor of Pritchard, Alabama. Raising $200 from interested parties, she ran for the town’s top job. On April 3, 1973, the citizens of Taft elected Foley as mayor. Her election pre-dates that of

Doris A. Davis Doris A. Davis (born circa 1935) is a former mayor of Compton, California, who earned a place in history as the first African-American woman mayor of a metropolitan city in the United States. Political career In 1965, 33-year-old Davis defeated i ...

, who was elected mayor of

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

later that year. In the wake of her victory, Foley conferred with Presidents

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. In 1974, Oklahoma named Foley Outstanding Woman of the Year. After losing her mayoral seat in the 1980s, she continued to serve her community. In 2000, now known as Lelia Foley-Davis, she regained her position as mayor. That same year, she ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for an open seat in the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

in district 13 (when Democratic incumbent Bill Settle ran for Congress). Although she placed first in the initial primary with 35% of the vote, in the runoff, she lost to second-place finisher Allan Harder, 56-44% (Harder narrowly lost to

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Stuart Ericson).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Lelia 1942 births Mayors of places in Oklahoma People from Muskogee County, Oklahoma Living people African-American mayors in Oklahoma African-American women in politics Women mayors of places in Oklahoma Oklahoma Democrats 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women African-American women mayors