Donald "Dee" Margo (born February 4, 1952) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 51st mayor of

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

from 2017 to 2021.

Early life and education

Margo graduated from Huntsville High School in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is the List of municipalities in Alabama, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alabama. The population of the city is estimated to be 241,114 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 100th-most populous ...

. He accepted a football scholarship to

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

and graduated in 1974 with a degree in history and economics.

Career

Margo moved to El Paso in 1977 from

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

to join his father-in-law's insurance business, John D. Williams Company. In February 1981, six days after Margo’s 29th birthday, his father-in-law suffered a fatal heart attack. Margo purchased JDW from the estate and expanded the company from 6 employees to 70. In 2005, Margo was named chairman of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce and in 2012 sold his company to HUB International. From 2011 to 2013, Margo served in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

. He represented the 78th district, which covers parts of El Paso County, after defeating Texas state representative Joe Moody. Moody defeated Margo in a rematch in 2012. On June 10, 2017, he was elected mayor of El Paso after winning the runoff part of the city's mayoral election of 2017 against another Republican businessman, David Saucedo. Margo was defeated for re-election running against former mayor Oscar Leeser in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Personal life

Margo has been a resident of El Paso for over 40 years. He and his wife Adair, an El Paso native, married on August 21, 1976 and moved to El Paso in March 1977, where they raised their sons. Their granddaughters are fifth-generation El Pasoans.

Electoral history

References

External links