Daun Sessoms Hester (born October 7, 1955) is an

American politician In the United States, politics functions within a framework of a constitutional federal democratic republic with a presidential system. The three distinct branches share powers: Congress, which forms the legislative branch, a bicameral legis ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. She served on the

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

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 ...

1996–2010, and was

vice mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

2004–08. She was a Democratic member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, having won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

on December 18, 2012, in the 89th district in Norfolk. She then became the

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of Norfolk in 2018.

Early life, education, family

Hester was born in Norfolk and grew up in the Five Points neighborhood, graduating from Norview High School. She received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in education from

Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black land-grant university, land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia, United States. Founded on , Vi ...

in 1978 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in education and human development from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in 1990. Hester worked for

Norfolk Public Schools The Norfolk Public Schools, also known as Norfolk City Public Schools, are the school division responsible for public education in the United States city of Norfolk, Virginia. History In 2019 Sharon Byrdsong became the interim superintendent, ...

for 22 years.

Electoral history

Political career

Hester was first elected to Norfolk City Council in 1996, representing Superward 7. In 2004, she was chosen as vice mayor by her fellow council members, holding that position until 2008. In 2010, she ran for mayor against the incumbent,

Paul D. Fraim Paul David Fraim (born October 26, 1949) is an American politician and lawyer. A Democrat, he was elected to the City Council of Norfolk, Virginia in 1986, was appointed mayor of Norfolk July 1, 1994 and re-appointed every two years until May 2 ...

, and two other challengers, losing to Fraim, 64% to 30%. After losing the election, she resigned her council seat. State Senator Yvonne B. Miller died in July 2012, creating an opening in the 5th Senate district. Delegate Kenneth Cooper Alexander won her seat in a September 4 special election, creating another vacancy in the 89th House district. Hester defeated Yvonne Allmond, a banker, 840–290 in a Democratic party

firehouse primary A firehouse primary, also called a firehouse caucus or "unassembled caucus", is a term sometimes used in the United States to describe a primary election run by a political party, not a government, to select the party's candidates for a later gene ...

on October 17. Hester then defeated James J. St. John, an independent, in the special election on December 18.

Notes

External links

* (Constituent/campaign website) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hester, Daun Sessoms 1955 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Virginia city council members Women state legislators in Virginia African-American state legislators in Virginia 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century American women politicians Virginia State University alumni George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development alumni Politicians from Norfolk, Virginia Women city councillors in Virginia 21st-century members of the Vermont General Assembly 21st-century American women politicians African-American city council members in Virginia