Ferguson Just Elected Its First Black Mayor

Ferguson, Missouri, the city where protests helped propel the Black Lives Matter movement into a nationwide crusade, elected its first Black mayor Tuesday night.

Ella Jones will also be the city’s first female mayor. The St. Louis County Board of Elections confirmed the news of her win with the St. Louis Dispatch, reporting that she secured 54% of the vote.

Her success in Tuesday’s election marks the second time Jones broke down barriers in her local government. In 2015, she became the first Black woman to serve on the Ferguson City Council. Despite the Black community making up nearly 70% of Ferguson’s population, the city’s government and police force were largely white at the time.

Jones joined the city government just months after the 2014 death of Michael Brown, a Black teenager gunned down by a white police officer. His death sparked nationwide protests over police brutality and helped put the Black Lives Matter movement on the map. 

“It’s a sad way we got known all the way around the world,” she said in an interview last month. 

Her campaign largely focused on raising property values in Ferguson and attracting new homeowners.