Austin Quinn-Davidson (born October 29, 1979) is an American politician and attorney who served as the acting mayor of

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

after the resignation of

Ethan Berkowitz Ethan Avram Berkowitz (born February 4, 1962) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Alaska. From 1997 to 2007 he was the Alaska State Representative for District 26, serving as the Democratic Party Minority Leader from 199 ...

in October 2020 until the inauguration of Dave Bronson in July 2021. Quinn-Davidson began serving on the

Anchorage Assembly The Anchorage Assembly is the governing body of Anchorage, Alaska. The Assembly has twelve members elected to three-year terms from six districts. It is responsible for creating and approving the city's annual budget, appropriating municipal fund ...

in 2018.

Early life and education

Quinn-Davidson was born in

Sacramento, California Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat, seat of Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento Rive ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

in 2001 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

UC Davis School of Law The University of California, Davis School of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of California, Davis. The school received ABA approval in 1968. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1968. UC Da ...

in 2007.

Career

Before serving as a member of the Assembly, Quinn-Davidson was a member of the Anchorage Budget Advisory and Women's Commissions. At the time of her election to the Assembly in 2018, Quinn-Davidson served as the Legal Affairs & Land Transactions Director at Great Land Trust, a non-profit organization based in

Southcentral Alaska Southcentral Alaska (), also known as the Gulf Coast Region,Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, Northern Opportunity Alaska's Economic Development Strategy, 2016, at 84 (Alaska 2016). Accessed June 1, 2023. https: ...

. While Assembly seats are nonpartisan, Quinn-Davidson has been referred to as a progressive.

Mayor of Anchorage

In October 2020, incumbent mayor

announced that he had conducted an inappropriate texting relationship with a local television reporter. Berkowitz then resigned from office, effective October 23. Upon the announcement, the Anchorage Assembly was restructured. Quinn-Davidson, who had been serving as vice chair, was selected to serve as chair, placing her first in the mayoral line of succession. When Quinn-Davidson assumed office, she became the first woman and openly-gay person to serve as mayor of

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

. She chose not to run for election to a full term as mayor in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn-Davidson, Austin 1979 births 21st-century mayors of places in Alaska 21st-century American women politicians Alaska independents Lawyers from Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage Assembly members American lesbian politicians LGBTQ people from Alaska LGBTQ mayors of places in the United States Living people Mayors of Anchorage, Alaska Politicians from Sacramento, California UC Davis School of Law alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Women mayors of places in Alaska 21st-century American LGBTQ people