James Knowles III

James Wallace Knowles III (born July 20, 1979) is an American politician who served as the 11th Mayor of the city of Ferguson, Missouri, from April 2011 to June 2020.[3][4]

James W. Knowles III
11th Mayor of Ferguson
In office
April 11, 2011 – June 17, 2020
Preceded byBrian Fletcher
Succeeded byElla Jones
Personal details
Born (1979-07-20) July 20, 1979
Ferguson, Missouri, U.S.
Political partyRepublican[1][2]
Spouse(s)Lisa
Children2
Alma materTruman State University (BA)
University of Missouri–St. Louis (MPP)

Early life and education

Knowles received bachelor's degrees in political science and criminal justice from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri in 2002.[4] He graduated from the University of Missouri–St. Louis in 2008 with a master's degree in public policy administration.[5][6]

Career

Knowles is a former chairman of the Missouri Young Republicans.[5] Knowles was a staff member for former Missouri state Senator and Democrat Ted House.[7] He is a former employee of the Ferguson Police Department, serving nearly four years in the department's communications division.[8]

Knowles served on the Ferguson city council prior to becoming mayor.[3] Knowles was elected mayor in the nonpartisan election on April 5, 2011, winning 49% of the vote.[3] He defeated two challengers, Pearce Neikirk, a realtor, and former Ferguson mayor Steve Wegert.[3] Voter turnout for the April 2014 mayoral election was extremely low at just 12 percent.[3] Knowles publicly expressed disappointment with the low voter turnout at an April 2014 city council meeting.[9]

Mayor of Ferguson

Knowles became the youngest mayor in Ferguson's history when he took office at the age of 31.[4] He was also believed to be one of youngest mayors in Missouri at the time.[3] Knowles has defended the Ferguson Police Department in the aftermath of the shooting of Michael Brown in August 2014. He denied that Ferguson had a history of racism in an interview with MSNBC in 2014.[10] An effort to recall Knowles was filed with the city on March 13, 2015.[11] Knowles was re-elected mayor on April 4, 2017 with 57% of the vote.

Knowles was unable to run for re-election in 2020 due to term limits. He was succeeded by Ella Jones, the first black mayor of Ferguson in the city's history.[12]

Electoral history
2017 Ferguson Mayoral Election[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan James W. Knowles, III 2,133 57.23
Nonpartisan Ella Jones 1,594 42.77
2014 Ferguson Mayoral Election[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan James W. Knowles, III 1,314 100
2011 Ferguson Mayoral Election[15]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan James W. Knowles, III 1,111 49.18
Nonpartisan Pearce Neikirk 600 26.56
Nonpartisan Steven Wegert 548 24.26
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References
  1. Eligon, John (April 5, 2017). "Ferguson Re-Elects White Mayor 2 Years After Mike Brown Incident". Nytimes.com.
  2. "Ferguson Mayor James Knowles III Runs For Third Term". Fortune.com.
  3. Howard, Shannon (2014-04-06). "Election Day brings new leadership to NoCo". North St. Louis County Online. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  4. "Department of Political Science, Summer 2011 newsletter" (PDF). Truman State University Department of Political Science. 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  5. Hurtt, Rob (2009-07-12). "Six degrees of 30 under 30". St. Louis Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  6. Natalie DiBlasio (August 19, 2014). "Who is Ferguson Mayor James Knowles?". USA Today. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  7. Jason Rosenbaum (September 16, 2014). "Ferguson Mayor Says He Overcame Obstacles To Become Mayor". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved November 25, 2014. Knowles – who worked as an aide to former Democratic state Sen. Ted House – said being in the state legislature is a "totally different ballgame from coming home every night and somebody calling you non-stop."
  8. "Ferguson, MO - Official Website". December 25, 2010. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010.
  9. Vega, Tanzina (2014-08-14). "Deep Tensions Rise to Surface After Ferguson Shooting". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  10. Clark, Elizabeth (2014-08-14). "Ferguson Mayor Defends Police Reaction to Michael Brown Protests". NBC News. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
  11. Deere, Stephen (2015-03-17). "Ferguson Mayor James Knowles faces recall effort". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2015-03-21.
  12. "Ferguson's first black mayor to be sworn in Tuesday night". AP NEWS. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
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