Daniel G. Clodfelter (born June 2, 1950) is an American politician and attorney from

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. He served as a Democratic member of the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

representing the State's thirty-seventh Senate district, which includes constituents in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

County, from January 1999 through April 8, 2014, when he resigned after being appointed Mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Education and legal career

Clodfelter was born in

Thomasville, North Carolina Thomasville is a city in Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,183 at the 2020 census. The city was once notable for its furniture industry, as were its neighbors High Point, North Carolina, High Point and Lexington ...

and graduated from Thomasville Senior High School, after attending one of the first sessions of the Governor's School of North Carolina in 1966. He earned a bachelor's degree from

Davidson College Davidson College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina, United States. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after American Revolutiona ...

, where he was a brother of

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College, which is now the University of ...

fraternity. In 1972 and was named a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

and earned another bachelor's degree from

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in 1974. He then attended the

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, earning his J.D. degree in 1977. Clodfelter served as a law clerk for Judge James B. McMillan of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of N.C. from 1977–78, after which he entered private practice in Charlotte.

Political career

Clodfelter served as a member of the Charlotte

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

, representing District One (East Charlotte) from 1987 to 1993. Clodfelter was elected to the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

in 1998 and for many years served as Co-Chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and as Vice Chair of the Judiciary One Committee. Clodfelter has been a Trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation since 1982.

Mayor of Charlotte

After Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon resigned from his office on 26 March 2014, several members of the Charlotte City Council expressed their support for Clodfelter to fill out Cannon's term. His appointment as mayor was endorsed by ''

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. It is owned by Chatham Asset ...

''.Charlotte Observer
/ref> On April 7, 2014, the City Council appointed Clodfelter as mayor. He resigned as a member of the North Carolina Senate on April 8, and was sworn in as mayor of Charlotte on April 9. He ran for a full term in 2015 but was defeated in the primary by Jennifer Roberts.

Family

Daniel Clodfelter is married to Elizabeth K. Bevan; they have two adult children.

References

External links