Jerry L. Demings (born June 12, 1959) is an American politician and former law enforcement officer serving as the 5th

Mayor of Orange County The mayor of Orange County is the county executive and chairman of the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, Board of County Commissioners of Orange County, Florida. The mayor is independently elected countywide. Duties and powers The ma ...

since 2018. He is the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to hold the position. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

of Orange County from 2009 to 2018 and as Chief of the

Orlando Police Department The Orlando Police Department (OPD) is the municipal law enforcement responsible within the city limits of Orlando, Florida, United States. The OPD employs over 1023 sworn officers and over 150 civilian employees serving the citizens of Orlando ...

from 1998 to 2002. Born and raised in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

, Demings graduated from

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 ...

with a bachelor's degree in

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

in 1980. After a brief career in accounting, he joined the

in 1981 and worked as a detective until his appointment as chief of police in 1998, becoming the first African American to hold the post. In 2008, Demings was elected sheriff of Orange County, the first African American elected countywide. His tenure occurred during the 2016 Orlando nightclub massacre; the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

and the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. He was re-elected in 2012 and 2016. Due to Florida's resign-to-run laws, Demings stepped down as sheriff to run for county mayor in 2018; winning the August primary outright and avoiding a

run-off election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

. The first Democrat elected mayor of Orange County, he was re-elected to a second term in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

with over 60% of the vote. Demings is married to First Lady

Val Demings Valdez Venita Demings (née Butler; born March 12, 1957) is an American politician and former police officer who served as U.S. representative for from 2017 to 2023. The district covered most of the western half of Orlando and includes much of ...

, a former

U.S. representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

and the

Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Florida.

Early life and education

Demings was born and raised in

, the youngest of five children. His father was a taxi driver and his mother a homemaker. One of his brothers died of a drug addiction related illness. He graduated from Jones High School in Orlando and later attended

and

Everest College Everest College was a system of colleges in the United States, and with Wyotech, made up Zenith Education. It was until 2015 a system of for-profit colleges in the United States and the Canadian province of Ontario, owned and operated by Cori ...

, earning a bachelor's degree in finance and a master's degree in business administration. He also has a certificate of completion from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Kennedy School The Kennedy School, originally the John D. Kennedy Elementary School, is a former elementary school that has been converted to a hotel, movie theater and dining establishment in northeast Portland, Oregon. The facility is operated by the McMena ...

FBI National Academy The FBI National Academy is a program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Academy for active U.S. law enforcement personnel and also for international law enforcement personnel who seek to enhance their credentials in their field and to ...

and the FBI National Executive Institute.

Career

Demings worked as an accountant before beginning a career in law enforcement. Demings joined the

in 1981 after certification from the J. C. Stone Memorial Police Academy. He worked in the department as a detective before he became its first African-American chief in 1998, serving until his retirement after 21 years with the department in 2002. In 2002, he was named Director of Public Safety for Orange County, a position in which he served until 2008. In 2008, Demings ran as the Democratic candidate for Sheriff of Orange County, Florida, the chief law enforcement officer of the county. He defeated his Republican challenger John B. Tegg III, and became the first African-American to serve in the post. Demings was re-elected in 2012, and again in 2016. In July 2016, Demings was elected as president of the Florida Sheriffs' Association. When Demings was elected county sheriff in 2008, his wife,

, held his former job as Chief of the Orlando Police Department. Demings' Republican opponent in the Sheriff's race, John Tegg, alleged that his election would create a conflict of interest. Jerry_Demings

In April 2022, Demings spoke out against the repeal of the

Reedy Creek Improvement Act The Reedy Creek Improvement Act, otherwise known as House Bill No. 486, was a law enacted in the U.S. state of Florida in 1967 establishing the area surrounding the Walt Disney World Resort (the Reedy Creek Improvement District) as its own coun ...

, saying that the Florida legislature had not "adequately contemplated the ramifications" and said it would put an "undue burden" on taxpayers.

Personal life

Demings is married to former U.S. representative

, whom he met during his early years with the Orlando Police Department. He was a detective and she was a first-year police officer when they both worked a juvenile go-kart-accident case. They married in 1988 and have three children along with five grandchildren. His wife served as a captain in the police department while he was chief and later went on to become the first female police chief of the Orlando Police Department, serving from 2007 to 2011. She was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

in 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demings, Jerry 1959 births 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century mayors of places in Florida African-American mayors in Florida African-American sheriffs Chiefs of the Orlando Police Department County constitutional officer (Florida) County officials in Florida County executives in Florida FBI National Academy graduates Florida sheriffs Florida Democrats Jones High School (Orlando, Florida) alumni Living people People from Orange County, Florida Law enforcement officials from Orlando, Florida