Leirion Gaylor Baird is an American politician. Since the 2019 election, she has been the mayor of

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

, where she previously served as a city councilwoman.

Early life and education

Gaylor Baird grew up in Portland, Oregon; her parents were public school teachers. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in history from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1993. She earned a Master of Science in comparative social policy from

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1997.

Career

Baird began her career as a management consultant, working also as a city budget and policy analyst. She was the director of an after-school and summer program in San Francisco. Upon moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, she was appointed to the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Commission and helped develop its 2040 Comprehensive Plan. She was elected to the Lincoln City Council as a city-wide representative in May 2013 and was, at the time, its only female member. She won reelection in 2017. Following the ratification of a

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

amendment by

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, Baird announced her intention to succeed incumbent three-term Mayor Chris Beutler. Affiliated with 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 ...

, she officially ran as a nonpartisan candidate due to municipal election law. She won the election for mayor on May 7, 2019, against Republican-affiliated Cyndi Lamm. She was sworn in on May 20, 2019, alongside the new city council.

Political positions and mayoralty

During her campaign for the mayoralty, Baird campaigned on additional road funding for the city, environmental preservation, and community land trusts for housing. During her time as a city councilwoman, she introduced legislation to ban

bump stock Bump stocks or bump fire stocks are gun stocks that can be used to assist in bump firing. Bump firing is the act of using the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire ammunition cartridges in rapid succession. The legality of bump stocks in ...

s in the city. A recall against Baird was organized in October 2020. LNK Recall objected to the suspension of city charter rules that allowed Pat Lopez to be designated as health director. Organizers needed at least 21,652 signatures by December 23, 2020, to trigger a recall; they were unable to do so. Baird responded by saying she continued to work as mayor. In November 2022, Baird announced her re-election campaign for the 2023 mayoral election. Primary opponents include Republican state senator Suzanne Geist and Republican former football player Stan Parker.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaylor Baird, Leirion 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians Alumni of the University of Oxford Living people Mayors of Lincoln, Nebraska Nebraska city council members Nebraska Democrats Place of birth missing (living people) Women mayors of places in Nebraska Yale College alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Women city councillors in Nebraska