John Evans Dailey (born December 7, 1972) is an American politician from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He is the mayor of

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...

, serving since November 19, 2018. Dailey previously served for twelve years on the Leon County Board of County Commissioners, representing northwestern Leon County, FL from 2006 to 2018.

Early life and education

Dailey was born in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science 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 ...

. During undergrad he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He earned a Master of Public Administration from the Reubin O'D Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. During his time at LSE, he served as an aide to

Roger Casale Roger Mark Casale (born 22 May 1960) was the Labour Member of Parliament for Wimbledon, England from 1997 to 2005. In June 2013, Casale founded New Europeans, a pro- EU campaigning group. Early life He was educated at King's College School, ...

, a member of Parliament.

Career

Elections

On September 5, 2006, Dailey was elected to the Leon County Board of County Commissioners for the third district. He served on the Leon County Commission for three terms, during which he served as chairman of the board twice (2010–2011 and 2016–2017). On November 6, 2018, he defeated his challenger Dustin Daniels in a second-round runoff of the 2018 Tallahassee mayoral election with 51.47% of the vote to 48.53%. During John Dailey's re-election campaign in the 2022 mayoral race, he accepted approximately $20,000 in campaign contributions from Seminole Booster and FSU related entities weeks before a critical vote awarding $20 million dollars in public funds for stadium improvements. On August 3, 2022, Dailey filed an elections complaint to the

Florida Elections Commission The Florida Election Commission (FEC) is an organisation set up in 1973 to enforce campaign finance laws in the United States' state of Florida. "The commission is composed of nine members appointed by the governor." See also * Elections in Florid ...

against his opponent, Kristin Dozier, accusing of her mayoral campaign being driven by

dark money In politics, particularly the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public. In the United States, ...

. From there, Dailey pledged to "hold every candidate accountable to follow the law". Dailey was re-elected in November 2022, defeating his General Election opponent Kristin Dozier by 6 points, 53.16% to 46.84%

Mayor of Tallahassee (2018–present)

On November 19, 2018, Dailey succeeded

Andrew Gillum Andrew Demetric Gillum (born July 26, 1979) is an American former politician who served as the 126th Mayors of Tallahassee, Florida, mayor of Tallahassee, Florida, from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

as the mayor of Tallahassee after assuming office, where he outlined in writing "a next chapter for the city of Tallahassee." During his first term as mayor, Dailey in early 2021 made

Election Day Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections ...

a paid holiday for Tallahassee city employees, claiming the use of

voter suppression Voter suppression is the discouragement or prevention of specific groups of people from voting or registering to vote. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting behavior by changing the o ...

in other states in which he insisted the move as chance for Tallahassee "to lead an effort to expand rights". He expanded the city's paid parental leave policy to include six weeks of paid parental leave to all new parents following the birth or adoption of a child. Dailey formed a Citizens Police Review Board and mobile app that allows citizens to record interactions with law enforcement. He also spearheaded the development of a mental health mobile response unit to create an alternative to police response to mental health emergencies.

Personal life

Raised in Tallahassee, Dailey is the son of Sarah Ann Dailey, a schoolteacher, and the late J. Scott Dailey, who was a two-term member of the Leon County School Board. Dailey lives in

, with his wife, Virginia Dailey. They have two sons named Tommy (14) and Henry (12).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dailey, John E. 1972 births Florida Democrats Florida State University alumni Living people Mayors of Tallahassee, Florida 21st-century mayors of places in Florida