Dan Whitehurst
American lawyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Keenan Whitehurst (born October 4, 1948) is an American former politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he was mayor of Fresno, California from 1977 to 1985. He started college at age 16 and law school at age 20. He practiced law briefly and then worked for a time at his father's funeral home before entering politics in 1975.[1]
October 4, 1948
Dan Whitehurst | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 19th Mayor of Fresno | |
| In office April 25, 1977 – January 26, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Ted C. Wills |
| Succeeded by | Dale Doig |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Daniel Keenan Whitehurst October 4, 1948 Los Banos, California, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Kathleen McCann (m. 1969) |
| Education | Saint Mary's College of California (BA) University of California, Hastings College of the Law (JD) |
Civic career
Whitehurst was a member of the Fresno City Council from 1975 to 1977, and was elected mayor of Fresno in 1977. He took office at the age 28, making him the youngest mayor of a major city in the U.S. and the youngest mayor in the history of Fresno. In 1982, while still in office as mayor, Whitehurst ran against California Governor Jerry Brown for the Democratic nomination to the U.S. Senate.[1] He came in fourth place with 167,574 votes (6.10%).[2]
After leaving office in 1985, Whitehurst remained active in local politics. Beginning in 1986, he has held the position of chairman in the California Healthy Cities Sterring Committee, and between 1986 and 1987, he was the program evaluator at the Ford Foundation Innovations in Government Program. From 1985 to 1988, Whitehurst participated in Havard University's Executive Session on Community Policing. Additionally, he was the chairman of the Arts to Zoo Commission in the Fresno Metropolitan Projects Authority, and the chairman of the Great Valley Center, from 1993 to 1994 and from 1997 to 1999 respectively.[citation needed]
Whitehurst also served on various advisory committees for: Fresno State, Regional Medical Center, Central California Futures Institute, Boys and Girls Clubs, Fresno County Association for a UC Campus, Fresno Unified School District, Citizens for Community Enrichment (Arts to Zoo), Downtown Task Force (ULI Study) [3]
Whitehurst practiced also law and was in various business ventures. He again ran for mayor of Fresno in 2000, but he lost to Republican Alan Autry.[4]