Thaddeus Kirkland (born January 12, 1955) is an American politician who served as the Democratic Mayor of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

from 2016 to 2024. In May 2023, he lost the Democratic mayoral primary to

Stefan Roots Stefan Roots is an American politician currently serving as the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic mayor of Chester, Pennsylvania, since January 3, 2024. He defeated the incumbent Thaddeus Kirkland in the May 2023 Democratic mayoral pri ...

. He served as a Democratic member of the 159th district from 1993 to 2016.

Early life and education

Born in Chester, Kirkland graduated from Chester High School in 1973 and Cheyney University in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Kirkland is a graduate of the

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in 1821, the university was known as the Pennsylvania Military College until 1972. Widener enrolls approximately 3,500 undergraduate students across s ...

Leadership Academy and is a member of Wine Psi Phi and

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternities. Kirkland was a community service coordinator at Crozer Chester Medical Center, where he directed outreach and educational programs for teenagers.

Political career

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

In 1993, Kirkland was elected as a Democratic member to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 159th district. He was reelected 10 times, serving 11 consecutive 2-year terms. Kirkland served as the Democratic Chairman of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee and as a member of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus. In 2002, he was named to the

PoliticsPA PoliticsPA.com is a website centered on the politics of Pennsylvania. Content The website reports on political and campaign news in Pennsylvania, from the state legislature up to federal races. The editors write occasional features, like the ...

list of Best Dressed Legislators. He was not a candidate for reelection in 2016 and was succeeded by his nephew, Brian Joseph Kirkland.

Chester-Upland School District controversies

In June 2011, Kirkland announced that if $20 million worth of cuts were not restored to the Chester Upland School District, he planned to file a federal lawsuit against Pennsylvania to close the three public high schools in Chester. However, the school board did not support Kirkland's plan, calling a press conference where they stated that they were "fully capable of speaking for" themselves and "totally disagree" with what Kirkland wanted to do. In August 2017, Kirkland welcomed the opening of the Chester Charter School for the Arts, a $25 million public, non-profit charter school on an 11-acre campus on Highland Avenue with kindergarten through 11th grade classes with a focus on music, dance, theater and visual arts.

Mayor of Chester

In the 2015 Democratic mayoral primary, Kirkland defeated incumbent Mayor

John Linder John Elmer Linder (born September 9, 1942) is an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2011. His district was numbered the from 1993 to 1997, the from 1997 to 2003, and the from 2003 ...

1,818 to 721 and then former mayor, Republican Wendell Butler Jr., in the election. Just before taking office on January 4, 2016, he promised to reduce violence in the city by improving the schools and police force and using body cameras. Kirkland decided to stay on as the representative of Chester, as well as serving as mayor. He is the first representative who has resigned and then rescinded his resignation. The House Democratic spokesman stated that because of this action, he will not be taking a mayoral salary until he departs from the House, and instead will take his legislative pay and continue to count toward his pension credits. In May 2023, he was defeated in the Democratic mayoral primary by Stefan Roots.

Personal life

Kirkland is the pastor of the Community Baptist Church in Chester, Pennsylvania and Vice President of the West End Ministerial Fellowship of Chester and Vicinity. He is a former Board of Trustee member of Lincoln University. Kirkland is married to Susie and together they have five daughters. Kirkland is the younger brother of former professional basketball player

Wilbur Kirkland Wilbur Kirkland also known as Willie Kirkland, (born 1947) is an American former professional basketball player. After a college career at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Kirkland played in two games for the Pittsburgh Pipers in the American B ...

References

External links

Pennsylvania House of Representatives - Thaddeus Kirkland (Democrat)
official PA House website
Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus - Thaddeus Kirkland
official Party website , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, Thaddeus 1955 births Living people African-American mayors in Pennsylvania 21st-century mayors of places in Pennsylvania African-American people in Pennsylvania politics Chester High School alumni Cheyney University of Pennsylvania alumni Mayors of Chester, Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly