David Goins

Goins was born on July 26, 1960, the son of Mark and Opal Goins.^[3] His mother died in 1967 and his father died in 1971.^[3] He was raised thereafter by his grandparents.^[3] In 1978, he graduated from Alton High School^[3] where he was an all-star basketball player.^[4] In 1983, he graduated from the College of the Ozarks on a full basketball scholarship with a B.A. in English.^[3] After school, he worked as a detention officer and correctional officer at the Madison County Department of Court and Probation Services.^[3] In 1986, he joined the Alton Police Department reaching sergeant in 1999.^[3] He retired as a police office in 2010.^[3] in 2016, he was elected to the Alton school board.^[4]

In 2021, Goins entered the race for mayor of Alton on a platform focusing on the recruitment of new businesses, job growth, the revitalization of the downtown, COVID-19 vaccinations, and the encouragement of recent college graduates to return to the city.^[3] He was supported by the local unions.^[5] On April 6, 2021, Goins was elected mayor of Alton defeating two-term Mayor Brant Walker 2,021-1,625 to become the first African-American mayor^[3] since the city's founding in 1818. In 2019, Alton was 68.7% white, 24.9% Black, 0.4% Asian, 1.6% Latino, and 4.3% multi-racial.^[6] He was sworn in on May 12, 2021.^[3] In July 2021, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker appointed Goins to the Central Port District Board.^[7] Upon taking office, he faced 8.5% unemployment, the loss or closure of over 200 businesses due to COVID-19, and a budget shortfall fueled by underfunded public employees' pensions.^[8] In his first term, he reversed a $3.1 million deficit to a $2.1 million surplus, established a new business district that attracted major national retailers, and hired additional police officers and fully equipped the force with body-worn cameras.^[9]

Goins defeated Brant Walker and Raymond Strebel in the April 1, 2025 general election.^[10]