Ella Jones Elected As First Black, First Woman Mayor Of Ferguson, Missouri

Source: City Of Ferguson / Ella Jones For Mayor

History has been made in Ferguson, Missouri. Six years after the death of Mike Brown put a national spotlight on the #BlackLivesMatter movement, a black woman has been elected mayor. Ella Jones has become not only the first BLACK Mayor of Ferguson, but she’s also the first FEMALE Mayor in the city’s history.

Mayor Jones secured her historic victory with 54% of the vote over Councilwoman Heather Robinett, who had 46%. She previously made history after became the first black woman elected to Ferguson’s City Council in 2015.

“It’s just our time,” Jones, 65, said in an interview Tuesday night with the St. Louis Dispatch. “It’s just my time to do right by the people” she added while stressing that she hopes to bring “inclusion” to the city.

This was the second time she ran for mayor in Ferguson, in 2017, she lost to incumbent James Knowles III.

The Dispatch reports that Ferguson’s black representation is growing. In 2014, there was just one black council member and now there are four out of six.

Jones is pledging to put the people first with her position.

“If you go look in the budget the first thing you see is the organizational chart. When you look at the organizational chart in the budget at the top of that chart it says ‘citizens,’ and then…the elected officials,” said Jones during a radio interview with t. Louis Public Radio journalist James Rosenbaum about her win. “If the people are not in charge of what they’re doing, then you’re going to have chaos. And we done had enough chaos…”

Prior to her political career, Mayor Jones graduated from the University of Missouri at St. Louis with a B.A. Degree in Chemistry. She was certified by the American Chemical Society as a high-pressure liquid chromatographer and completed training as a pharmacy technician.

Congratulations Mayor Jones!