Tishaura Jones

Tishaura Oneda Jones (born March 10, 1972) is an American politician who has served as the mayor of St. Louis, Missouri since April 2021.

Tishaura Oneda Jones was born on March 10, 1972, in St. Louis to Virvus and Laura Jones.

Her father was a former comptroller for the city.

She is the couple's only child.

Jones graduated from Affton High School in 1990 and enrolled in Hampton University, a historically black college in Hampton, Virginia.

At Hampton, she was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

Born in St. Louis to a former city comptroller, Jones studied at Hampton University in Virginia, returning to St. Louis upon graduating in 1994.

She graduated from the school with a Bachelor of Science in finance in 1994.

In 1995, after graduating from Hampton University, Jones applied for a liquor license for a restaurant she was starting in the Central West End called Sugar's Place.

The restaurant was unsuccessful, folding after about a year, and caused her major financial problems for years to come.

Jones told The St. Louis Business Journal that her financial problems came during a "tumultuous time" in her life, as she had taken on debt from the restaurant, her father had been convicted on two counts of fraud in 1995, and her mother was dying of cancer, and said declaring bankruptcy "was the only way" to avoid financial ruin.

In 1999, she filed for bankruptcy and faced a tax lien by the state of Missouri.

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.

In 2001, Jones earned a Master of Health Administration degree from the Saint Louis University College for Public Health.

From May 2001 to June 2003, Jones was an executive trainee at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.

A self-described progressive, Jones entered politics in 2002, when she was appointed to the Democratic Party Central Committee for St. Louis's eighth ward.

Jones began her political career in 2002, when she was appointed to the Democratic Party Central Committee for St. Louis's eighth ward.

Her lien was released in 2003, and Jones said her credit score in 2017 was in the high 700s.

She said her experience with bankruptcy inspired her to create an office as treasurer that gives financial literacy instruction to St. Louis residents.

Since 2004, Jones has served as the committee's serjeant-at-arms.

A member of the Missouri Democratic Party, Jones served from 2008 to 2013 in the Missouri House of Representatives; and as Treasurer of the City of St. Louis from 2013 to 2021.

In 2008, she was elected to represent Missouri's 63rd District in the state legislature, defeating independent candidate Nels Williams with 85.4 percent of the vote.

On November 4, 2008, Jones was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives over independent candidate Nels Williams to represent the state's 63rd district.

There was no Republican challenger for the seat, and Jones received 85.4 percent of the vote.

Her father, Virvus, managed her campaign.

She ran unopposed for re-election to the House in 2010.

Jones ran unopposed in 2010 to win her second term, and became both the first African-American and the first woman appointed to serve as the Missouri House's assistant minority floor leader.

In the House, she served on several committees, including the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, the Health Insurance Committee, and the Special Standing Committee on Election Contests.

From March 2010 to June 2011, Jones also worked as the Vice President of Municipal Finance at the minority-owned, Oakland-based investment firm Blaylock Robert Van.

In 2012, Jones ran for St. Louis Treasurer in 2012, and won the general election with 77.9 percent of the vote.

In February 2012, after the Missouri House passed a resolution condemning a contraceptive mandate by President Barack Obama's administration, Jones and six other female Democratic members of the House stated they were kept out of the debate.

Jones said that the group "stood and waited to be recognized for two hours" but "never got a chance to speak on an issue that is unique to women."

Democrat Margo McNeil argued that the incident was part of a Republican "war on women."

In 2015, she completed the State and Local Government program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

She was re-elected for the office in 2016 and 2020.

Jones was elected as Mayor of St. Louis in the 2021 mayoral election (after losing in 2017).

Tishaura Jones and St. Louis Alderwoman Cara Spencer defeated St. Louis Aldermen President Lewis Reed and utility executive Andrew Jones in the first top-two approval voting primary held in the United States.

Tishaura Jones then defeated Cara Spencer in the general election.

Jones was sworn in on April 20, and is the third African-American, the second woman, and the first African-American woman to hold the position.

When she ran for mayor in 2017, Steven M. Barney, who had mentored her at Cardinal Glennon, wrote that Jones did an "outstanding" job at the hospital and had "appropriate assertiveness."