Oliver Gilbert III is an American politician and current

Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...

Commissioner for District 1. He is also the former mayor of

Miami Gardens Miami Gardens is a city in north-central Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb of Miami and located north of downtown Miami with city boundaries that stretch from I-95 and Northeast 2nd Avenue to its east to Northwest 47th ...

Career

Gilbert received a B.A. in Criminal Justice from

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

and a J.D. from

University of Miami School of Law The University of Miami School of Law (Miami Law or UM Law) is the law school of the University of Miami, a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. Founded in 1926, it is the oldest law school in South Florida, graduating its first ...

. He entered politics early out of law school in 2000, when then-state representative Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall hired him as a legislative aide. He then worked as deputy of policy for former US attorney general

Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...

's gubernatorial campaign. A couple years later, after working first as a prosecutor and then in private practice, he vied for the mayoralty of the newly incorporated City of Miami Gardens in 2003 where he lost. He was appointed to the Miami Gardens council in 2008 and 4 years later was elected mayor, the second African-American to hold the position. Miami Gardens is Florida's largest city with a majority African American population and the 3rd largest city in

. When running for Miami-Dade County Commission he faced Sybrina Fulton, the mother of

Trayvon Martin Trayvon Benjamin Martin (February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012) was a 17-year-old African-American from Miami Gardens, Florida, who was killing of Trayvon Martin, fatally shot in Sanford, Florida, by George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old Hispanic an ...

, who was killed by

George Zimmerman George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in '' F ...

in 2013. There were notable as people like

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democ ...

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...

and other high ranking figures in the Democratic Party who endorsed Fulton. However, Gilbert won a close race in August winning 50.5%, as such a runoff was not needed. Gilbert is also known for his love of bowties and frequently wears them. He is a brother in

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternity.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Oliver 1972 births Living people Government of Miami-Dade County, Florida Mayors of Miami-Dade County, Florida Florida Democrats African-American mayors in Florida University of Miami School of Law alumni Florida A&M University alumni 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American politicians