Steve Vaus (also known as Buck Howdy; born April 7, 1962) is an American recording artist and politician serving as the mayor of

Poway, California Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city had a population of 48,841 as of the 2020 United States census. Poway is part of San Diego's East ...

, since 2014. In 2020, he ran for a seat on the

San Diego County Board of Supervisors The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is the Board of supervisors, legislative and executive branch of the Government of San Diego County, California, county government of San Diego County, California. Though officially Non-partisan democra ...

, losing narrowly to Joel Anderson.

Early life and education

Vaus was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. As a child, he lived on a cattle ranch in

Grants Pass, Oregon Grants Pass is a city in and the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, Oregon, Medford, along the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River. The populatio ...

, and in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

. After graduating from Eisenhower College in Seneca Falls, New York, Vaus relocated to

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

to be closer to his parents.

Career

Music

Vaus primarily records country music and country music for children. He is also known for his

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

recordings including ''The Stars Come Out for Christmas'' series. Vaus established "Carols by Candlelight" in 1990, a charity fundraiser for various charities serving children including Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego which has become a 34-year San Diego tradition. In 1992, Vaus's song "We Must Take America Back" reached #68 on

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

. Vaus has been nominated for four

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, winning the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children in 2010.

Politics

Steve Vaus was elected in 2012 to a four-year term on the Poway

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

. On November 4, 2014, he was elected mayor of Poway. He has been praised for his response to the Poway synagogue shooting in 2019, and he told the world that "we will put our arms around one another and walk through this dark day together". Vaus served as Chair of the

San Diego Association of Governments The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for San Diego County, California. It is an association of local county governments, with policy makers consisting of mayors, councilmembers, and Coun ...

from 2018 to 2020. In May 2019, Vaus announced his candidacy for a seat on the

. In the March 3, 2020 primary, he advanced to the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

. He ran against another Republican,

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Joel Anderson. He lists his priorities as protecting the county from wildfire and crime, protecting open space, and encouraging the development of more housing. His campaign was endorsed by the editorial board of ''

The San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

''. He lost this election by 282 votes, or 0.09% of the 289,924 votes counted in the election. In 2022 he was elected to a third four-year term as mayor of Poway.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Vaus's official website
Living people American country singer-songwriters Grammy Award winners People from Poway, California California city council members Mayors of places in California Singer-songwriters from California RCA Records Nashville artists American children's musicians Country musicians from California 1952 births {{US-singer-songwriter-stub