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James W. Knowles III
11th Mayor of Ferguson
In office
April 11, 2011 – June 17, 2020
Preceded byBrian Fletcher
Succeeded by Ella Jones
Personal details
Born (1979-07-20) July 20, 1979 (age 44)
Ferguson, Missouri, U.S.
Political party Republican [1] [2]
SpouseLisa
Children2
Alma mater Truman State University ( BA)
University of Missouri–St. Louis ( MPP)

James Wallace Knowles III (born July 20, 1979) is an American politician who served as the 11th Mayor of the city of Ferguson, Missouri, from April 2011 to June 2020. [3] [4]

Early life and education

Knowles received bachelor's degrees in political science and criminal justice from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 2002. [4] He graduated from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 2008 with a master's degree in public policy administration. [5] [6]

Career

Knowles is a former chairman of the Missouri Young Republicans. [5] Knowles was a staff member for former Missouri state Senator and Democrat Ted House. [7] He is a former employee of the Ferguson Police Department, serving nearly four years in the department's communications division. [8][ citation needed]

Knowles served on the Ferguson city council prior to becoming mayor. [3] Knowles was elected mayor in the nonpartisan election on April 5, 2011, winning 49% of the vote. [3] He defeated two challengers, Pearce Neikirk, a realtor, and former Ferguson mayor Steve Wegert. [3] Voter turnout for the April 2014 mayoral election was extremely low at just 12 percent. [3] Knowles publicly expressed disappointment with the low voter turnout at an April 2014 city council meeting. [9]

Mayor of Ferguson

Knowles became the youngest mayor in Ferguson's history when he took office at the age of 31. [4] He was also believed to be one of youngest mayors in Missouri at the time. [3] Knowles has defended the Ferguson Police Department in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in August 2014. He denied that Ferguson had a history of racism in an interview with MSNBC in 2014. [10] An effort to recall Knowles was filed with the city on March 13, 2015. [11] Knowles was re-elected mayor on April 4, 2017, with 57% of the vote.

Knowles was unable to run for re-election in 2020 due to term limits. He was succeeded by Ella Jones, the first black mayor of Ferguson in the city's history. [12]

Electoral history

2017 Ferguson Mayoral Election [13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan James W. Knowles, III 2,133 57.23
Nonpartisan Ella Jones 1,594 42.77
2014 Ferguson Mayoral Election [14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan James W. Knowles, III 1,314 100
2011 Ferguson Mayoral Election [15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan James W. Knowles, III 1,111 49.18
Nonpartisan Pearce Neikirk 600 26.56
Nonpartisan Steven Wegert 548 24.26

References

  1. ^ Eligon, John (April 5, 2017). "Ferguson Re-Elects White Mayor 2 Years After Mike Brown Incident". The New York Times.
  2. ^ "Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III Runs For Third Term". Fortune.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Howard, Shannon (2014-04-06). "Election Day brings new leadership to NoCo". North St. Louis County Online. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  4. ^ a b c "Department of Political Science, Summer 2011 newsletter" (PDF). Truman State University Department of Political Science. 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  5. ^ a b Hurtt, Rob (2009-07-12). "Six degrees of 30 under 30". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  6. ^ Natalie DiBlasio (August 19, 2014). "Who is Ferguson Mayor James Knowles?". USA Today. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  7. ^ Jason Rosenbaum (September 16, 2014). "Ferguson Mayor Says He Overcame Obstacles To Become Mayor". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved November 25, 2014. Knowles – who worked as an aide to former Democratic state Sen. Ted House – said being in the state legislature is a "totally different ballgame from coming home every night and somebody calling you non-stop."
  8. ^ "Ferguson, MO - Official Website". December 25, 2010. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010.
  9. ^ Vega, Tanzina (2014-08-14). "Deep Tensions Rise to Surface After Ferguson Shooting". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  10. ^ Clark, Elizabeth (2014-08-14). "Ferguson Mayor Defends Police Reaction to Michael Brown Protests". NBC News. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  11. ^ Deere, Stephen (2015-03-17). "Ferguson Mayor James Knowles faces recall effort". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  12. ^ "Ferguson's first black mayor to be sworn in Tuesday night". AP NEWS. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  13. ^ "St. Louis County, Missouri". Archived from the original on 2017-04-05.
  14. ^ "St. Louis County, Missouri". Archived from the original on 2014-07-06.
  15. ^ "St. Louis County, Missouri". Archived from the original on 2011-04-10.

External links

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