John Ewing Jr. (born April 18, 1961) is an American politician, minister, and former police officer serving as the mayor of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

since 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in 2025, defeating incumbent Republican mayor

Jean Stothert Jean Louise Stothert (née Wolf; born February 7, 1954) is an American politician and former nurse who served as the 51st mayor of Omaha, Nebraska from 2013 to 2025. She was first elected in 2013 and is the first woman to hold the office. She was ...

. Previously, Ewing served as Omaha deputy police chief and had been the treasurer of

Douglas County, Nebraska Douglas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population is 584,526. It is the state's most populous county, home to just under 30% of Nebraska's residents. Its county seat is Omah ...

since 2007 until his election as mayor. Ewing is the first African American to be elected mayor of Omaha, and the first Democrat elected to the mayoralty since

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Education

Ewing graduated from

Omaha Northwest High School Omaha Northwest High Magnet School at 8204 Crown Point Avenue in northwest Omaha, Nebraska, United States, is located on a campus. Construction was completed in 1971. Further renovations were completed in 2004, adding several classrooms and imp ...

, where he was a member of both the football and basketball teams. He holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in business administration and criminal justice and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in urban studies from the

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

Career

Ewing served for nearly 25 years with the

Omaha Police Department The Omaha Police Department (OPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The OPD is the largest law en ...

, rising to the rank of Deputy Police Chief. Ewing was sworn in as Mayor of Omaha on June 9, 2025.

Personal life

Ewing and his wife Viv have two daughters.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ewing, John Jr. 1961 births 21st-century African-American politicians African-American mayors 21st-century mayors of places in Nebraska African-American history in Omaha, Nebraska African-American people in Nebraska politics Living people Mayors of Omaha, Nebraska Nebraska Democrats University of Nebraska Omaha alumni