Ashton James Hayward III (born April 15, 1969) is an American real estate developer and politician who served as the 62nd

mayor of Pensacola The mayor of the City of Pensacola is the chief executive officer and holder of the city of Pensacola, Florida. The mayor's office is located at the city hall at 222 West Main Street in Downtown, and owns an estate near the Texar Bayou in East Pen ...

from 2011 to 2018. He is currently the president of the Andrews Research and Education Foundation. He was the first mayor elected under the "strong mayor" form of government adopted in 2009, which shifted the mayoral duties away from a ceremonial leader to that of the city's chief executive and decision-maker.

Early life

He was born and raised in Pensacola, graduating from

Pensacola Catholic High School Pensacola Catholic High School is a private Catholic co-educational high school in Pensacola, Florida, United States. It was established in 1941 and is located in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. History Pensacola Catholic High School i ...

in 1987. Hayward earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. While in college, he took a break from studies in Miami, where he met his future wife, Belgian-born An (married 1996). For many years, Hayward and his wife lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, returning to Pensacola in 2003 to start a real estate development firm.

Political career

In 2015, Hayward was appointed to the Florida Commission on Community Service by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Rick Scott Richard Lynn Scott ( Myers; born December 1, 1952) is an American attorney, businessman, politician, and United States Navy, Navy veteran serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of F ...

. During his time in office, he also rebranded the City of Pensacola with a new slogan, "Pensacola: The Upside of Florida" which also included stronger economic development efforts.

References

External links

Archived government website

Archived official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayward, Ashton 1969 births 21st-century mayors of places in Florida Mayors of Pensacola, Florida Florida State University alumni Living people Florida Republicans People from Escambia County, Florida Politicians from Pensacola, Florida