Jones, Tishaura O. (Tishaura Oneda), 1972-
Tishaura Oneda Jones (born March 10, 1972) is an American politician serving as the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Jones was previously elected to the Missouri House of Representatives to represent the 63rd district in 2008, serving until 2013. She was Treasurer of St. Louis from 2013 to 2021.
Born in St. Louis to a former city comptroller, Jones studied at Hampton University in Virginia, returning to St. Louis upon graduating in 1994. Following a failed attempt to start a restaurant that left her bankrupt, she entered nursing, graduating from the Saint Louis University College for Public Health with a Master of Health Administration in 2001 and working for Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital for two years. Jones entered politics in 2002, when she was appointed to the Democratic Party Central Committee for St. Louis's eighth ward. In 2008, she successfully ran for the Missouri House of Representatives, being elected to represent the 63rd district over independent candidate Nels Williams with 85.4 percent of the vote. After running unopposed for re-election to the House in 2010, Jones ran for St. Louis Treasurer for the first time in 2012, and won the general election with 77.9 percent of the vote. She was re-elected as treasurer in 2016 and 2020.
As treasurer, Jones was credited with using the office, which had been widely regarded as an unimportant and scandal-ridden bureaucratic position, to start new programs in the city. These include a program that educates citizens on financial literacy, and a program that uses parking meter revenue to give public school kindergarten students a savings account to help them afford college education. Jones also received national attention for her responses to media criticism of her, most notably by The St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial board, which she has variously described as racist, sexist, and unfair.
In 2017, Jones, a self-described progressive, lost a bid to become Mayor of St. Louis after being narrowly defeated in the city's Democratic primary by moderate Lyda Krewson. On November 4, 2020, after being elected treasurer for a third term, Jones announced she would once again campaign for the mayor's office. She won the election against St. Louis Alderwoman Cara Spencer on April 7, 2021, and was sworn in on April 20. She is the third African-American, the second woman, and the first African-American woman to hold the position.
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alumnusOrAlumnaOf | Hampton University (Va.) | corporateBody |
almaMaterOf | John F. Kennedy School of Government. | corporateBody |
memberOf | Missouri Legislature. | corporateBody |
alumnusOrAlumnaOf | Saint Louis University | corporateBody |
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Hampton | VA | US | |
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Person
Birth 1972-03-10
Female
Americans
English